Of Lucky Charms and Chances
by dreamzofhope
Summary: An unlucky Edward discovers that things tend to go magically right with him when he’s around a certain someone,but what when he discovers a lot more than just his luck in his ‘lucky charm’-Bella Swan?Drama,hilarity,jealousy-all of it ensues.AH.R&R!
1. Away from the sun

**Chapter 1: Away from the Sun**

**AN:**

Hey people,

Here's my first ever story. I just had this crazy idea one day, and 'Andi and Megz' (xMainstreamEmoBrdlineHardcorex) made me go ahead with it. Thank you guys, for all the encouragement. They even edited this chapter for me, despite having 5 other absolutely awesome stories that they're working on, making it a lot better than before. I'm enjoying writing this story and I hope you enjoy reading this. You'll need to tell me if you think it's any good at all.

Here it goes....

This is the edited chapter. I recently got myself a beta-_the_ beta-Bronzehairedgirl620. You must have read her stories, if not, then you must, specially Stop, Drop and Roll...you'll love it.

Thank-you Bronzehairedgirl620...you're awesome!

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine. It all belongs to SM. I'm just spending some 'quality time' with _her_ characters 'cause I'm SO in love with 'em.**  
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"Okay, that's _it,_" I yelled, making him jump.

"Whoa! What was that about, Bells?" he asked, sitting upright and looking at me with slightly wide, annoyed eyes.

Okay, so maybe yelling at someone like that, within such close proximity… extremely loudly… wasn't the best thing to do. But when you're desperately trying to get a sensible response from someone after having tried every polite way to get them to talk...It seems like a good way to go...and it worked, apparently.

"Yeah, right. Just keep playing innocent Jasper. A lot of good it'll do you."

He sighed, more resigned now. "We've been over this before. I'm _fine._"

Heaven knows why this guy even tries pretending around me, even though he's the one with the uncanny knack to know what people felt, especially the ones he was emotionally close to, because seriously, when it comes to him, my best friend since forever, I didn't need any freaky mood reading talent… I just knew.

"_Sure_ you're fine." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah. Perfectly fine."

Yeah, right. The melancholy look on his face could be detected from a mile away. Really, this was all getting beyond ridiculous. I sighed out of real exasperation and he looked up at me and attempted at a smile, only it looked more like a grimace.

I couldn't keep the 'I'm-mad-at you' look I'd been trying to hold on my face there any longer. I felt sad again: sad for him, sad because this happened to him. I knew he instantly detected the change because the next moment he gave up any effort to keep up appearances and his eyes were back to the gloomy ones they'd become since that fateful day.

He turned away and slumped against the tree again, our favorite spot on campus that was in a secluded corner of the garden. This was where we would talk about anything and everything.

"Jazz," I said, but he didn't look at me. "Jazz, _listen_...at least look at me?"

No response. He just sighed.

I inched closer and rested my head on his shoulder while reaching out for his hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. He sighed again and rested his head on top of mine; this was how we usually sat for hours on end, watching movies, hanging out or staring off into space.

"Just let it go, Jazz. You _need to_ let it go." I continued softly, not wanting to hurt him, but this was the only way. He had to get over it.

"I know, Bella. I just can't. I mean, it's not like I want us to be together again after all that." he gave me a sigh and eye roll which I understood to be a 'no chance in hell' look and then continued. "But it's just that...well, it's...it's sad, and depressing and unnerving, you know? The fact that she could wound me so easily. The fact that I myself gave her the power to do so...only by liking her so much, and that she actually did hurt me. Her knowing that I trusted her so much. I trusted her with everything and then I find out she'd thrown it all away. I don't know." Jasper shook his head.

"I'm so confused and so...just so..." he looked like he was at a loss for words. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes and while keeping them closed, he told me something I wish I'd never heard cross _my Jasper's _lips.

"Bella, I feel… I feel stupid, weak...and...I feel like I don't know myself." he responded in a frighteningly vulnerable voice. I hated to see him like this. The Jasper I knew was always so confident and so sure of things. Why would such a thing happen to someone as nice as Jasper?

"I went and made an absolute fool of myself. What was I thinking?" Jasper dropped his head into his hands. I didn't know what to say; I just held on, hoping to say or do something to make this better. He had a way of making me feel better at the worst of times. I wanted to do the same for him.

"Jazz, look at the better side. I mean, she clearly wasn't the one for you, she was just bidding her time, so just be glad you got this over with now, you know. Be happy that you didn't take it any further with her. I mean...I don't know Jazz...you're the _most_ awesome person I've ever known, and trust me when I say that you're going to find the most awesome person to make an awesome couple with."

Wow, I didn't know that I could put 'awesome' in a sentence that much…

I continued with true conviction. "Just learn from it and move on...be careful next time, make sure the person is very special. Make sure you're ready to let them be close to you. Make sure you two are on the same page before getting into anything serious with them. And, well, don't be sad about things going the way they did. I mean, Jazz, she just wasn't worth your time. You were _too_ good for her, _really_, so just be glad you can spend your final year concentrating on making it to your favorite college...your music… and…me!"

I looked at him with a smile that took some effort as I realized it was our last year together in high school, seeing as he was a year ahead of me. Great, Loner Ville. Population? Me.

He looked back at me. "Yeah Swan, you… us. We've made a great team, what will you do without me next year? You being in Loner-Ville-"

"Population: me." I cut him off and we both gave a pretty pathetic attempt at a chuckle.

I squeezed his hands again. "Just save a seat for me in whichever college you go to, okay? It's just a year, and we do need our own space, don't we?" wow it sounds like _we're_ breaking up.

He chuckled. "Yeah, we've been on each other's case since, like, forever."

Jasper and I had clicked since the moment we met. Renee came to Jacksonville after her separation from Charlie. It was the house her mother's parents had left her, as she was a very darling grandchild to them and they had a heck of property. She had initially wanted to sell it after settling with Charlie, but who knew she'd move to that house one day. Jazz's family and we were neighbors. He was always my best friend, quickly becoming the protective big brother I never had. Loving, caring and sharing, and I, well I was the little sister he'd always hoped for...

I sighed deeply. Jazz was quiet again. Wow...what happened to the good ol' days when we used to joke around all day long, when he would strum his guitar and I would sing along? I hated her. I hated Maria with a passion.

This all happened three months ago. They'd met at the club Jasper had gone to for his gig. She was a senior like him, but they never got a chance to interact before. Apparently she had had a crush on him for a while, but she had mistaken Jazz and my friendship for something else.

Once she found out that he was single, she pounced on the opportunity. They talked for a long time in his car as he drove her home. Jazz told me all about it that very night. He called me well past midnight, not caring about the fact that I was an early sleeper. We met at my terrace at the dead of the night and he told me all about what happened at the club.

I was never the one to go club-hopping or partying. I just couldn't get myself to socialize with unknown people, and my going would have only distracted Jazz, as he gets really protective. Jazz totally understood and never made me go there with him, even for his gigs. He used to make me sit with him during his practices instead, the only time he'd ever make mistakes and cuss and what not.

Jazz was really excited about this girl. I could tell. I'd never heard of her, and I wasn't surprised. Jazz and I existed in our very own bubble.

Time went by and in about two month's time they were really getting along. Jazz was really happy about it, and I was happy for him. I'd met her a few times. She was gorgeous of course. She was also a bit dominating, or so I felt. Jazz had started spending a lot of time with her.

Then she had to go and shatter his heart in a million pieces. She cheated on Jasper, two months and some days into their relationship. Jasper saw her making out with some guy in the parking lot. He just couldn't bring himself to say anything...couldn't see anything other than Maria's unrepentant face...couldn't hear anything other than the shattering of his heart. He never found out who the guy was. He didn't want to, either. He only wanted to cut that whole part out of his life, whereas I just wanted to cut Maria.

He wouldn't talk about it for about a week. He would just lay with his head on my lap or my shoulder, or he would take us to the beach and just stare at the sky or just strum his guitar meaninglessly, and he kept saying things like how he was so glad he had me in his life, or how he was so thankful for me. We both were always thankful for each other, but it was the first time one of us said it aloud.

I was thankful too that he didn't try to shut me out; thankful that he knew he could still trust me, despite the severe blow his trust had received from Maria; thankful that I'd found something so meaningful, so pure and so true.

Then one day he finally spit it all out; how he'd gone to the parking lot to collect his laptop from his car for some project work when he saw them, after several minutes he brought himself to whisper her name and interrupt their session and she just coughed, or maybe she was saying something but Jazz just couldn't decipher it. Sometime between the very intense minutes Jazz spent staring at Maria disbelievingly the guy left the place.

Maria was the first to speak. "Oh please Jasper, stop staring! It's not like we were engaged or anything! Fool."

And she just walked out. Jazz couldn't bring himself to react; he was too numb and his brain just wouldn't function.

The next day she'd waved at him like nothing had happened; she had come to sit next to him during Math and said something about wanting to be his friend. She apparently considered her cheating on him a minor detail, and well I… I just lost my cool after that. I tracked her down after school the next day, meaning to give her a piece of my mind. I shouted my head off at her and I said a lot of things I'd never dreamt I'd say. Ever. And yet it wasn't enough for me. I closed the little space between us in a few steps, and was just about to punch her in the stupid cheating mouth of hers when Jazz caught me from behind and literally carried me away from there, mumbling about not wanting me to get into any trouble.

I wasn't one for violence; I guess that witch just brought it out in me.

She finally got her voice back and started yelling profanities at me. That's when Jazz put me down and looked right at her. His look must have silenced her because she shut up as Jazz spoke.

"Stay the hell away from us."

What can I say; people could killed for a friend like that. How did I get so lucky?

It had been about three weeks since that day and Jazz was still not back to his fun-loving self.

He suddenly spoke. "Ugh. I'm sick of it all. God, I miss our careless selves. I just don't want to deal with all this crappy depression. I want out...I want to sort my life out. I want my life _back_."

"I guess finally we're 'normal teenagers'..." I sighed.

We'd always joked about this during happier times. We were forever joking about how teens were. There was so much curiosity, how everyone was trying to figure themselves out, how every simple thing was blown out of proportion and how everyone was frustrated with the way things were. How everyone wanted things made easy. How everyone loved that they were finally the decision makers of their life and at the same time how the realization of a million responsibilities was so frustrating.

We thought we were slightly above it, until now that is. We had each other to bank on. We were forever laughing and joking around. We hung out and we studied too, regularly. Jazz played the guitar and I used to sing with him, but right now we were both in the full-blown emo mode. Oh, the joys of being a teen...

'Emo.' we used to laugh about this too. He'd once found this site where you could enter your real name and they'd generate your 'emo' name. Mine was _'Stab my tears because you're so controversial'_. We'd laughed for hours and hours. He found the reference to tears really funny, seeing as I used to cry at the littlest things when we were younger.

He sighed. "I'm not going to fall in love or anything for a long, long time now... it's just too complicated, and I don't know if it's real at all." he looked at me with caring, thoughtful eyes. "You shouldn't either."

He was looking out for me. Like always, so I smiled at him and said, "wasn't planning on it."

No way did I ever want to feel firsthand the pain that I saw in his eyes. I sure as hell was _not_ going to fall in love any time soon. It was sort of frightening. I mean, I'd grown up with Renee lecturing about teenager's infatuations and what not. She'd always state her example, how she'd married right out of high school and then separated when I was a baby.

She assured me that she never regretted me, but she said she'd have been happier if things had happened a few years later. And then I'd always wondered about how love was too huge, powerful and all-consuming force to be dealt with in the beginning of your young life, it was a point of no return. It couldn't be taken lightly and I knew I wasn't ready enough for it. But does love happen to you when you're ready for it? Doesn't it just happen at random?

Love was about trust; you had to lay everything about yourself in front of your object of affection and hope for them to take you the way you are-forever. You have to love them for what they are, and then you've got to believe that they'd always respect your love, never grow out of love with you, never hurt you, always be there for you, and always understand you. Then there were compromises to be made. Did 'happy endings' really exist? How do you know it is love in the first place?

Love; it was too huge a concept. Did I even begin to grasp it yet? It was like jumping off a cliff with only the hope of your 'someone' to be there to catch you and then never let you go. Or was it about a way to climb down to them, or a way to get them to climb up to you-you know, the safer way out? Would I be able to take a chance? Would anyone want to be with someone like me at all? Or was I to die loveless?

What did it take for someone to fall in love with you? I don't know...maybe you had to be really pretty, really smart, really _special..._

Did love _really _exist, at all?

"Bella!"

It was my turn to jump out of surprise now. Jazz chuckled slightly; he was used to me getting lost in my own thoughts.

"Time to go, Bells. Lunch is over."

He took my hand and helped me up. I was glad to see a slight smile on his face. We walked towards the building, hand-in-hand.

"I'll wait by your locker after school...see ya." I said, He just waved and went to his class and I made my way to my own, hoping his went fine. He shared his last period – Math – with Maria. I sighed… I knew this was hard for him.

At the end of my last class I made my way to Jazz's locker. He arrived a few minutes later, all downcast and gloomy, yet again. We made our way home in total silence. I remembered how we used to sing along to whatever songs were playing on radio earlier and a wave of anger washed over me. I could kill Maria for this.

This had to stop, and soon. If only we could get away from all this, cut it all out, something like… like a fresh start.


	2. Smells like Teen spirit

CHAPTER 2: SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

**AN: **Ok guys, here's the second chapter for you. This has been reposted after getting edited too. Thanks to Bronzehairedgirl620. Her stories are up for twilight awards. Read them and then vote for her...she deserves the awards, as you'd see once you've read them!

**DISCLAIMER: ****You know the characters belong to SM! I'm just enjoying their company:)**

"Okay then, see you later Bella." Jazz's inflectionless voice broke my trance.

"How about we hang out at your place today?" I asked hopefully. Jazz's mom and dad always got back from work at around six and Renee was usually home before me as she taught at an elementary school. We both spent most of our time at his place.

He thought for a while and then smiled a bit. "Sure. Come on over."

I was really glad to realize that Jazz was finally consciously trying to get back to what we were before the whole Maria fiasco.

"Cool. I'll just let my mom know. Be right back. "I hurriedly made my way home.

"Mom," I yelled as I opened the door. "Mom!"

"In here, sweetie," Renee called from the kitchen. She was on the phone. "Yeah honey, It's okay...don't worry, it'd be great..." she sighed sadly.

"I wish, but you know it's not possible. Bella needs me here."

I felt a brick drop in my stomach as I sat on the dining chair. My mom had remarried about six months ago. Phil was a baseball player and traveled a lot. I knew mom wished to travel with him, but she didn't, wanting to be a good mum to a teenage daughter, and I hated to be the reason my mother was not happy.

A few moments later she finished her talk and joined me on my table. "Hey, Bella."

"Hey, Mom. Who was it?" I didn't want her to know that I'd deduced this piece of information from what she was saying.

"Phil. He's going to be away this month too." she tried to smile but didn't quite accomplish it.

"I see. Err...mom, how about I go to Jasper's today?" I asked.

My mum smiled genuinely. She never poked her nose into my matters until she absolutely had to, but I knew she could tell that something had been off the past few weeks and I knew she figured that things were better now that Jazz and I were back to our old routine.

"Sure, honey. See you later."

I walked out, feeling guilty. I hated keeping these newlyweds apart. It wasn't my fault, but still…if not for me, they would be happier.

I found him in the kitchen. He was scooping out some ice cream, actually a lot of ice cream, for us. We both shared this weakness. He emptied the whole box of vanilla in the huge bowl and poured chocolate syrup over it.

We made our way to his room, him holding the bowl and me carrying the spoons. We both lay on our stomachs on his bed and kept the bowl between us. After a spoon or two, Jazz went to turn his stereo on. Soon Linkin Park was blasting through the speakers.

We ate in silence, bobbing our head to the music. Jazz brought his guitar out and started strumming along. He was very talented. After a while his sullen, silent mode was too much to take and decided to get him to do what we normally used to do.

I smiled at him meaningfully and stood up on his bed and started singing along, with his help of course. I took the spoon and held it in front of my mouth, making it my pseudo microphone. Soon I was jumping up and down on the bed like crazy and we were both bobbing our heads like mad.

"_I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real__I wanna let go of the pain I've held so long__(Erase all the pain till it's gone)__I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm close to something real__I wanna find something I've wanted all along__Somewhere I belong…"_

Suddenly I found myself falling head first on his bed and my face made it right into the puddle of our ice cream. I looked up and realized my feet were all tangled in Jazz's sheets, and he was currently clutching his sides and laughing his head off.

Yeah. Now_ this_ is normalcy.

Before he had the chance to prepare himself I made my way up to him and emptied the bowl on his head. He looked up at me with disbelieving eyes; I suppose he didn't expect this from shy, clumsy Bella. I smirked at him and felt some ice-cream drip down the sides of my face. This threw us both over the edge, and we burst out laughing hysterically. Jazz was literally rolling on the floor.

We were interrupted by a phone call. Jazz half-rolled, half-crawled, half-ran to receive it.

"Hello?" he breathed, still panting hard.

"Dude! Err...want me to call you later?" A voice from the phone asked uncertainly. Jazz had apparently put the phone on speaker; he wouldn't have wanted to cream up the receiver. We burst out laughing again. I slid down the wall I was leaning against for support. This only made him laugh harder. He bent, bracing his hands against his knees for support.

"O-_kaaaaaay?_" The voice from the phone said in a voice that suggested he was surely questioning our sanity. "Well, nice to talk to you too, guys"

"S-Sorry Jake, hi..."Jazz calmed down a bit and I was still struggling to breathe...I bet it was his freaky 'mood-control' thingy.

"Hey, Jacob." I added.

Jacob Black was our friend of sorts. Jazz and his family wanted to visit Phoenix last summer. They had a house there and they'd taken me along. Jazz wanted to go, as there was some competition he was interested in. He did his guitar solo and of course won in the solo category. He'd met this band during practice-'Mist' and made good friends with the guys. Jake was the drummer and founder of the band.

At the day of the competition, their guitarist had to back out due to an emergency. Jazz stepped in and saved them, and they won that one too.

Since that day, Jazz and Jake were good friends. Jake was a really nice, kind, easy going and funny guy. He made sure that Jazz conveyed his greetings to me every time he called. He was a senior in high school too.

"Hey, guys. So, what's up?" Jake asked.

"Nothing much...just..."

Another burst of giggles escaped my mouth and Jazz joined in too.

"I figured as much..."Jake replied, chuckling.

"What else do you do when you're covered in chocolate and ice cream..." Jazz murmured, still laughing.

"Ugh. I definitely didn't need to hear that." Jake said, sounding disturbed.

"Oh! NO!" I shouted before a new wave of laughter took over me.

Jazz had tears running down his face, and he was back to rolling on the floor.

I left the living room. I needed to calm down before I burst from laughing or something. I made my way to the bathroom to clean my messy face up. After successfully cleaning my face I took a towel and soaked it with water for Jazz to clean up with.

As I entered the living room, I heard Jake sigh." If only you were here in Phoenix, dude"

A few months ago, their guitarist had to quit, since then Jake had been offering Jazz the spot. Actually, more like pestering...I was sure that's what Jake was doing again.

Jazz chuckled. "Tough luck, man."

"Oh come on, you have a freaking _house_ here in Phoenix, you're eighteen already, you can ensure a future in music here. There'd be no problems when it comes to school and college...step out of Jacksonville for once! It's gonna be adventurous...a fresh start!"

'That's it!' My brain was shouting at me. 'Oh God, that's it!"

I smiled; the sudden outburst of hope within me was over-whelming. I'm sure Jazz caught that wicked gleam in my eyes, or 'sensed' my mood, whichever, he looked at me with wary eyes, and I'm sure my grin only got bigger.

This was gonna be one heck of a fresh start!

I sort of zoned out after that, and I barely heard the exchange of good-byes.

I was still smiling and was too overwhelmed to speak. Jazz snapped his fingers and pulled me out of my reverie.

"Okay Swan, what is going on in that tiny diabolical brain of yours?" Jazz asked, slightly amused and very curious.

I'm sure that goofy smile hadn't left my face yet.

"That's it, Jazz." I meant to say so in a normal conversational tone, but it came out as a whisper. "Phoenix. We should move to Phoenix."

Jasper's eyebrows shot up, and he snorted. I knew he thought I was being crazy and it was one of those silly far-fetched things I'd sometimes say just because I wanted to, but really, wasn't this plan perfect?

Jasper needed to get away from Jacksonville for the sake of his mental health, and I knew I needed to get out of the picture for my mother and Phil to spend some quality time together. Jasper and me moving to Phoenix would be the perfect way to set things right.

"Really, Jazz, think about it. Jake is right. You have a house there; we can easily enroll in the high school there. You get to be a part of the band you truly want to be a part of and we get to start things fresh. It's gonna be so much fun. Renee gets to travel with Phil and you wouldn't be worrying your parents with your late night creative composing on your guitar. It's gonna be absolutely fantastic!" I said animatedly, trying to rub some of my zest off on him.

"Dream on, Bella." he said, thoroughly amused.

"What makes you think we won't be able to do this?" I asked, irked by the fact that he wasn't reciprocating my enthusiasm.

"Bella, our parents are never going to agree to this. Besides, if we're gonna be living in a house on our own, then we'd have a lot of responsibilities to take care of. There's no point in getting excited over such silly, impractical things." he said matter-of-factly.

"Jazz, we can handle the responsibilities. I'd be working part-time, and of course you'd be doing your band gigs, so we'd easily cover the bills. We can cook and we practically take care of our houses on our own, seeing as our parents are out most of the time. As for our parents, how can you be so sure they wouldn't want us to take care of ourselves?"

"Bella, of course they'd say no." he said, sounding irritated, but it didn't take a genius to detect the hint of longing in his voice.

"Just humor me, Jazz. Okay?" I smiled widely at him. He just shook his head.

"Please Jasper, just, play along?" I pleaded.

"What has gotten into you?" he asked, brows furrowing.

"Smells like teen spirit!" I quipped animatedly.

He snorted.

"_Sure,_ Swan!" He said, rolling his eyes at me.

I was absolutely positive Jazz was as thrilled as me about the whole thing, but he, unlike me, would never truly let the excitement take over him unless he was absolutely sure that the plan was going to be put in action. He hated having his hopes crushed after building them up. Who doesn't? But I guess I'm the more optimistic one between us.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go deal with my mom first." I said.

"You go ahead, I'd be there right after I have a shower and get this mess off my head." he said, pointing to the cream that was settled in his hair.

The closer I got to home, the more the jittery feeling within me grew. I hoped Renee wouldn't flip out. I found her in her bedroom, reading the novel she'd recently bought.

I stood by the door uncertainly; I didn't know how to go about this. I decided to play it cool.

"Hey Mom."

"Hey Bella, how was your afternoon with Jasper?" she asked and motioned for me to join her on the bed.

"Great. We had a lot of fun today." I said with a smile, remembering the crazy laughing fit we'd had and feeling happy about the fact that Jazz finally laughed after about a month of moping around.

"That's good. So, how's the new year at school?" she asked.

"It's fine. I just wish I could skip gym somehow." I replied. She chuckled. I wanted Jazz to be here when I talked to Renee about my moving to Phoenix with him, but I knew it'd be just like him to join us after I'd already dropped the news on Renee. The little coward.

"What is it, Bella? You look distracted." Renee observed.

"I...err...I…" I struggled for words. Leave it to my ever insightful mother to take things out of my hands. I took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and just spit it out. "Would you allow me to move to Phoenix with Jasper?"

I didn't know what to expect. Would she yell? Or would she laugh at me?

"What brought this on?" she asked in an inquisitive, slightly amused voice.

"Well, actually it is just that Jazz had a chance to join this band in Phoenix and he really wanted to. You already know the Whitlock's have their own, fully furnished house there. We just figured it would be cool to move there."

"Jasper can go about his music once he gets into college, can't he? It's just one more year. Why do you want to move to different place during your school year?"

"Oh come on, mom. Why not? It would be a great experience and besides, it's this particular band Jazz is interested in, you know? Those guys really click. It's gonna be fun."

"Bella, honey, living on your own isn't all fun." Renee continued, sounding more and more amused. "There are res-"

"I know there are a million responsibilities mom, but don't you think we're responsible enough to take care of it all? I've decided I'm going to be doing some part time job this year, and Jazz of course would be doing his stuff, we wouldn't even ask you to give us anything extra for the bills and groceries."

"It's not about that, Isabella." she spoke more sternly this time, a slight hurt touching her voice. "You're asking me send you off to some unfamiliar city-a different STATE for god's sakes- to fend for yourself-"

"I would be going to college after high school anyway."

"...and that would be happening two years from now."

"Two measly years mom, they wouldn't make much of a difference."

I was aching to point out the fact that she'd get to travel with Phil with me out of the way, but I knew it'd only make matters worse.

"Please Mom, please, please..."I was getting desperate now. "Why not?"

"What if they is some kind of emergency?"

"I'd have Jasper there."

"Both of you are just kids."

"We're almost out of our teens now. Come on mom, you know you should allow me..." I tried to pout, hoping it would convince her.

"I don't know, Bella, do you really want to go? Live on your own?"

"Yes Mom, very much so...what do you say?"

I can't take the suspense any longer. Renee just kept looking thoughtful, staring at nothing in particular.

"Mom?"

"What did Jasper's parents say to this?"

"We haven't asked them yet. We wanted to know what you thought about it."

"Bella, you do realize you're asking me to send you away to a different city, don't you? I need to think about it and talk it out with Charlie, and Jasper's parents too. Where is he, by the way?"

"I'd like to know that too." I answered, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket.

"Hey Bells. Hey Renee. Miss me?" Jasper loped into the room, right as I was about to call him. I shot a death glare at him. I am sure he was standing outside the door, waiting for the perfect moment to enter the conversation.

"So, what do you think of this whole thing Jasper?" Mom got straight to business. I shot him a look to ensure he gives a suitable response, a response in favor of us being allowed to leave.

"I...err...I'd like to go to Phoenix...very much so." he replied.

"Do you think you two should be sent on your own?" My mum continued with her questionnaire.

I shot him another look, more pleading this time.

"I...I...I hope so?" he finished in an uncertain tone.

I sighed.

"Did you ask your parents about it?"

"I, I err...I was going to do so tonight."

"Hmm. I think I'd talk to them about it, and we'll have to see what Charlie says."

"Thanks, mom." I said in a sincere but more subdued voice.

"It's okay, sweetie. You guys go get started on your homework, and Jasper, please check with your parents if they'd be okay with me dropping in at your place at around seven."

"Sure, Renee. Bye"

We made our way into my room. It was already 5:30. I sighed. We didn't talk much. I just lay down on my bed, and Jazz took to checking his e-mail, which I guess he hadn't done in a while what with all the sulking around. I collected my I-pod from the bedside table and put on the headphones. I tried to distract myself from all the thinking. I couldn't stand waiting.

I put this song I'd taken immense liking to- Brighter than Sunshine, by Aqualung. I put the song on repeat, and kept listening the lyrics in my mind.

"_I never understood before,_

_I never knew what love was for,_

_My heart was broke; my head was sore_

_What a feeling..."_

There was this particular part of the song I really loved...

"_Love will remain a mystery,_

_Well, give me your hand and you will see,_

_Your heart is keeping time with me..._

_What a feeling in my soul,_

_Love burns brighter than sunshine..."_

I guessed that was what love would be like; always a mystery, but you'd know when it's love after you've taken that first step...after you've taken your chance.

Was that love then? But how would I know?

I kept listening to this song again and again until Jasper shook my arm.

"Hey Bells? I'll be here once I'm done filling my parents in on this idea of ours." Jazz's voice shook me out of my trance.

I glanced at the table clock; it was 5:55pm already and his parents would be back anytime now.

"Okay." was my brilliant response.

"On second thought, why don't you come along? My mum loves you more than she loves me; chances are that you'd convince her better than I could." he said, trying to pass on the load to me.

"Not a chance, Jazz. You left me alone to deal with Renee. It's only fair that you convince your parents on your own." I replied, narrowing my eyes a bit.

He sighed." I guess. Wish me luck"

"Keeping my fingers crossed." I replied sincerely.

Maybe this _was_ a very far-fetched idea. I guess Renee was planning on meeting Jazz's parents to only humor us. Maybe they'd sit and have a good laugh about it. Or maybe, just maybe, they'd let us go.

The suspense was painful. I raised the volume to full and switched to one of my favorite playlists.

Evanescence blasted through the headphones and I tried to concentrate on the lyrics to keep myself from thinking about anything else. It was working. I started whisper singing the song.

"_How can you see into my eyes like open doors__leading you down into my core__where I've become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold__until you find it there and lead it back home"_

I hadn't realized how tired I was. Moving my lips seemed to take a lot of energy. I guess I dozed off before the song was over. In what felt like no time at all someone was violently shaking me. I could suddenly make out a lot of noise; the violent shaking continued and I sat up instinctively. The noise and the shaking stopped abruptly. I found myself facing a very amused Jasper.

"I didn't know Fall Out Boys sings you to sleep, Bella." he joked, staring at my I-pod screen, which was now detached from the headphones that still adorned my ears. I groaned and got out of bed.

I suddenly remembered why I had to resort to such tortures and immediately glanced at the table clock.

8:30!

I hurriedly turned to look at Jazz, but before I could do anything my I felt myself being lifted off the ground. I shrieked a little and Jazz put me down, laughing heartily.

"Jazz...does that mean ....are we...?" I was breathless and I didn't know what to think. Before I could get myself to form a coherent question, Jazz was yelling.

"We're going to Phoenix!"

Those words penetrated my brain and before I knew I was shrieking like a little girl and hugging Jazz with all my might. He hugged me back.

Soon we were jumping around, yelling and making noises like little kids. My heart was hammering in my chest; it felt like it would burst out of excitement.

"But...on one condition." my mother's voice broke our celebrations.

"Condition?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes. Charlie's condition." Renee replied.

I looked at Jazz for some kind of explanation. He looked just as clueless as I did.

_Charlie's_ condition? My _dad's_ condition? This should be interesting.

**AN – So, what do you think? I'd really like to know what you **_**really**_** think. Do review and let me know! I would love to know what you did or did not like about this chapter...or anything you have to say...do let me know.**


	3. Breaking Free

**AN:** Okay, so, here's the next chapter. A heartfelt thank you to all who reviewed and added me to their alert/fav. lists! I can't tell you how happy it makes me!

A big thanks to Bronzehairedgirl620, my beta, for her amazing beta skills, and besides that, the very fact that she's putting in her efforts for my story!

So, read on...

"O_kay…_ so...what is it?" I asked apprehensively.

Renee sighed deeply and then spoke. "Emmett."

"Emmett? Bella's cousin in Forks?" Jazz repeated. She nodded.

"What about him?" I asked her, bewildered. What did Emmett have to do with this?

"Well, you know Emmett's in his senior year too." We both nodded in unison. "Well, Charlie said he'd be more comfortable with this situation if Emmett moves to Phoenix with you too. He thinks Emmett would be able to look out for the two of you."

Jazz snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'm more than happy with it."

Emmett McCarty was a cousin of mine who lived in Forks. I used to go to Forks every summer to visit Charlie for two weeks and I got to spend a lot of time with Emmett too. It was the one thing that made my stay in the dreary town of Forks endurable. Jazz had accompanied me to Forks when I was fourteen, and he and Emmett had become fast friends. Their favorite pass time quickly became making fun of me.

"Look out for us? Mom, Jazz is a few months _older_ than him!" I giggled; I was almost light-headed with relief and joy at having our plan work.

"Maybe it has something to do with his size?" Jazz chuckled.

That could be true. Emmett was one bear of a person. He was huge, like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair He looked very intimidating, but once you got to know the real him, you'd realize he was the most loving and caring person in the world.

"Does Em know about this?" I asked Renee.

"Charlie said he'd talk to him. I think he's going to call and tell us if Emmett is interested or not." Renee said. "Anyway, down to the kitchen, both of you. We've got some lasagna in the fridge."

I shared a worried look with Jazz. Would Em be interested in this plan of ours? Before we had any more time to worry about it, my phone rang.

"_It's my life_

 _It's now or never_

 _I ain't gonna live forever_

 _I just want to live while I'm alive_

 _It's my life..._

We both froze momentarily and then darted for the phone.

"Emmett!" I shouted into my phone.

"Hey there, Bells!" His booming voice came through the phone, followed by a hearty laugh.

Jazz just snatched the phone from me, too impatient to wait a second longer. "Dude, please tell me you're coming!"

Jazz was literally yelling. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my ear closer to the phone.

"Yeah, I am!"" Emmett yelled back in a voice that rendered my efforts to get closer to the phone useless.

"Thank you!!" I yelled. I was back to jumping up and down. The joy, the happiness and excitement coursing within me was beyond words. I was going all woozy. Jazz was much more collected.

"I'll be there as soon as possible. Gotta take care of the school business here," he continued after we'd calmed down a bit.

"Sure dude, and I'll take care of our enrollment in Phoenix."

"Thanks, man. I can't believe you guys are getting me out of Forks a year early. I owe you big time."

"No worries Em; you're gonna be 'looking out' for us, after all" I giggled and spoke.

"Sure will, Bella. No dating before college for you." Emmett replied, with Jazz burst out laughing at it.

"Very funny," I said sarcastically. "See you soon, Em."

I couldn't stop the grin from spreading on my face.

"Bye Bells. _No_ mini-skirts." Em laughed into the phone. I just rolled my eyes and made my way to the storage room to get my suitcases. My heart continued beating faster than normal and I was still grinning from ear to ear.

We're going to Phoenix!

************

Today was the day we were leaving for Phoenix. We had our flight in a few hours and were currently running around the house, making sure we got everything. Emmett had arrived here the previous day. I was seeing him after two years, as last year I couldn't go to Forks. He was as huge as ever. He drew me in a huge bear hug the moment he saw me and put me down only when Renee realized I wasn't being able to breathe.

I had spent the last night talking to Renee; we hardly slept. We kept talking about this and that. I suddenly realized it wasn't going to be easy; I'd miss my mother a lot. I knew I would worry about her, much like she would worry about me. She had Phil now and of course, Jazz's mom; the two of them were like sisters. I also knew Renee would be happy traveling around with Phil.

"Okay kids; load your stuff in the car now. We'll be leaving in fifteen minutes." Renee said.

Renee was taking me and Emmett in her car and Jazz was going be driving with his parents, who wanted to see us off as well.

Soon we were on our way to the airport.

"Okay Emmett, Bella, I know I've said it more than enough, but I'm going to repeat it. Behave like responsible young adults. You'll be having a house to yourself, but that does not mean partying whenever you like. I want all of you to keep your grades up..."

Emmett and I shared a look and rolled our eyes, but we let her continue anyway. There was no point telling her to stop lecturing us again. She'd done that about a dozen times already.

"...you are smart enough to know that you should keep away from certain kind of people and things. I don't want you people to go wandering all over the city late in the night. You should be home in time every day, and stay together and be there for each other. Don't do anything you know you shouldn't be doing, and I do not want you guys to live off only junk food. Keep calling us. Be good."

"Got it, mom..." I stated dutifully.

"Yeah, honey, I know. I'm just making sure." she replied.

"I know," I said and shuddered, remembering 'the talk' she'd given me – again – last night.

"You look after my little girl, Em." she directed her attention towards Emmett now.

"Sure will Renee, I'll be a good brother to my little baby sister. Won't I, Bells?" he wagged his eyebrows at me.

I giggled. Emmett had a way of making me feel like a little girl.

We arrived at the airport and collected our stuff. Jazz joined us shortly, looking all tortured.

"So I figure you got 'the talk," Emmett said to Jasper, smirking.

"Two times in four days." he replied sourly.

"At least you didn't have your aunt talking to you about it." Emmett spoke, shuddering.

"Renee?" I asked, totally bewildered at this piece of information.

He nodded.

"Wow," was all I could think.

Emmett snorted and shook his head, "You'd think we were going to Phoenix only to-"

"Emmett…" Jasper warned, looking pointedly at me.

"Oh! Sorry, Bells."

I snorted, but couldn't keep the blush away.

"Okay kids, time to get going." Jazz's dad said, leading the way.

Soon we were bidding our goodbyes to our parents. Renee was on the verge of tears, and I knew I was too.

"You two look after her. You know she's really over-sensitive." Renee said to the boys, tears in her eyes.

I rolled my eyes; that was a universal fact.

No one would let me forget how I'd cried when Emmett called me a 'slow-poke' when I couldn't catch him when we were playing chase as little kids, or, how I'd howled when Jazz teasingly said that he'd never want to be seen with me again when my mum had once forced me to wear a stupid 'kitty' sweater to school when we were twelve.

Jazz never teased me like that ever again, while Emmett said he'd make sure I _outgrew_ it.

"Wonder where I got that from," I muttered while I brushed away her tears. The boys only smiled at her.

I felt a spasm of gratefulness and happiness. I was very, very glad for such great friends.

"Okay then. Take care."

Hugs and kisses were exchanged and soon we found ourselves seated in the plane. I still couldn't believe we were leaving for Phoenix; we were gonna be on our own!

These last few days were an absolute whirlwind. We had already been enrolled in a school in Phoenix; well, most of the work was done. They had asked us to submit a few papers we needed to collect from our current schools, stuff like character certification from the principal and a record of our grades and all. Jake had helped us a lot; getting him to believe us was the difficult part. I chuckled as I remembered how it took us forever to convince him that it wasn't a prank.

Both Jasper and Emmett were having their cars bought to Phoenix by professional movers. Boys and their love of cars.

Emmett absolutely obsessed with his Jeep. It was HUGE.

Jazz was no different, though he was more particular about his _'Ducati'_. I always wanted to learn to ride that bike, but he wouldn't let me near it, saying it was too dangerous. He only let me sit on it when he was driving. And yes, the Ducati was coming to Phoenix too.

Charlie said he'd try to visit me soon and let me have my 18th birthday present early. They all knew I hated presents, they did try to keep it to a bare minimum, but they'd asked me let loose on the big eighteen.

It wasn't much of a surprise though, Emmett had 'let slip' that Charlie was planning on buying me a car. I only hoped it wasn't too expensive.

I was sitting next to Jasper on the plane; he let me have the window sit. Emmett was behind us with a little kid. He seemed to be having a lot of fun with the boy. I could only imagine how many pranks Emmett had taught him by the time we reached Phoenix.

A cute looking flight attendant made her way up to us and offered us drinks. She kept stealing glances at Jazz, who was ignoring her not so subtly. Throughout the flight, the girl kept her efforts up and he continued snubbing her coldly.

I sighed. I knew he was doing it on purpose. I suppose this was going to be his new way with girls- to ignore them.

Jasper was really good looking. He was tall, lean but still muscled and had honey blonde hair. Girls always tried to get him to notice them; he never showed any interest in them beyond being on good terms as a class mate. It would be a change to watch him give the 'cold-shoulder' to the girls.

Trust Jasper to go to all extremes.

Suddenly the attendant appeared again to ask us if we needed a refill. I politely shook my head while Jazz pretended to be too lost in his magazine and music to listen to her.

She left, slightly baffled and embarrassed.

I raised my eyebrows at him, but he just shrugged. I pursed my lips and frowned, letting him know I didn't entirely approve of this behavior.

He smiled at me like a naughty child and offered one of the ear buds of his I-pod. I couldn't help but smile back. The cheating little charmer. I put the piece in place and laid my head back on my seat, listening to Bryan Adams echo my thoughts-

"_It's a new world,_

_It's a new start,_

_It's alive with the beating of...young hearts,_

_It's a new day,_

_It's a new plan,_

_I've been waiting for you-_

_Here I am"_

By the time the attendant announced our arrival, I was positively bursting with excitement, enthusiasm and millions of feelings I can't begin to name.

As I stepped out of the plane, the cool Phoenix breeze greeted me.

"Hello, Phoenix!" Emmett's booming voice shot through the calm, evening surroundings, making a few people turn and look at us in surprise.

I giggled and Jazz shook his head.

"Hello, Phoenix," I murmured. This was going to be big.

**AN: **So, here it is. I hope you're happy with Charlie's condition. I know I've been keeping Edward from appearing for too long now. BUT, no worries! The next chapter will be all about him. It's going to be in Edward's point of view, and it would include the first time they set eyes on each other! That should keep you happy....you know what would make me happy? REVIEWS...and trust me...the more reviews I get, the happier you'll be too...cause I'd post the chapter early then :)

Please, do review. They make me happy, and a happy writer writes a happy story :)


	4. It's in your eyes

CHAPTER 4: IT'S IN YOUR EYES!

**AN: **Okay guys, so here's your next chapter. It's in Edward's Point of view, as promised.

I'm very wary of this chapter. I put in a lot of time in it; not writing it, but worrying about it. I'm nervous as hell even as I post it. I'm not sure how I did it. I need you people to tell you how you felt about it. Really, please.

Thanks to all those readers who've reviewed and those who've added this story to their alert/favourite lists. Thank you guys, your support keeps me going.

And of course, thanks to my awesome beta-bronzehairedgirl620- you're lovely girl, thanks for all your efforts.

This chapter is dedicated to a very close friend of mine; let's call her 'phoenix'. This is for you phoenix. You're one of the best people I know. Thanks for being there for me.

Now, on to the story...

"_Oh, for the love of all that's holy!" _I yelled at the top of my lungs as I flung myself out of my bed. This was _just_ what I needed, on top of everything else.

I was late-_again_. It wouldn't have mattered much to me any other day, but today, I _should, I must_ have been in the court half an hour ago, attending the special practice session the coach had arranged.

I hurriedly changed into fresh clothes and rushed for my car, waving Esme off with a "Later Mom" as she complained about my not eating breakfast.

I sat in my car and made to start it but it just won't budge.

Right! Did I forget to mention? I'm probably the unluckiest person alive. It had been about a year now, and I had already accepted it.

We'd shifted from Alaska to Phoenix only about a year back and apparently left my luck behind.

My car- my lovely, shiny, silver Volvo, - _never_ gave me any problems, other than on days when I really, really needed it to not give me any problems.

_Great_! I thought sarcastically.

"Hey Edward!" A chirpy voice called.

"Well, hello Alice. How come you're here? It's early for school!" I asked my adoptive sister.

We'd both spent last night watching movie after movie, well past midnight, and here I was, looking like I was straight out of bed, which was just the case actually and here she was, looking fresh and chipper as the rising sun. If I didn't know any better I'd say this little pixie was a vampire.

I knew I didn't _have_ to remain up so long, I could have left when I wanted, but yesterday was...special.

"I just '_knew' _you'd need a ride." She giggled.

"Well, thanks. It hardly matters though...it _is_ going to be my last day on the school basket ball team anyway." I said dejectedly as I made my way to her yellow Porsche.

"I don't think so, bro." She declared and handed me an apple.

I must admit, it did make me feel a lot better. Alice had a way of _'knowing' _things. You could say she was really intuitive. Needless to say, she was hardly ever wrong. But still, I _was_ the unluckiest man alive.

"Oh Alice, please, you're only going to end up messing up your _'I-told-you-so' _record. Do I have to remind you how dismally we lost the last match?" I grimaced at the memory and she burst out laughing.

"Oh, I remember. You should have seen just _how_ Josh fell though. It was so idiotically funny. It was like some unseen power made sure that he fell right on you." She said between giggles. "I guess your _luck_ is rubbing off on Frank too! He really didn't have to fall along with you two at all." She continued to giggle madly as I felt my face fall in a scowl.

"Josh's shoe laces _somehow _get untied, and he chooses to fall _on _me, _just _as I was about to shoot a three pointer, and he somehow managed to pull Frank along too, who ended up breaking his jaw while Josh sat out to nurse his twisted ankle." I fumed. "_Not_ to mention my back, which for your kind information, is still sore. Everyone on our team has practically been hiding their faces for a while now."

She threw me a sympathetic look before fits of giggles claimed her again. "It was fun to watch, none-the-less." She sighed and sobered up a bit. "You guys are probably the best around, but-"

"But it just so happens that I am blessed with the worst luck possible." I groaned. "How many murders did I commit in my last life?" I muttered.

"Don't worry Edward. Things are gonna get better."

Did I imagine the conviction in her voice?

"Sure Alice, starting with my being kicked off the team." I shot back.

"Oh_ come on_ Edward, Coach won't kick you off just because you are late!" Alice continued.

"Alice! You know I've missed practice-"

"Due to some _wonderful_ antics of yours" She interrupted, giggling crazily.

"Please Alice; you know it was just a mistake. I didn't do it on purpose or anything." I said, embarrassed.

I could never forget that _blessed_ day. We were to submit our assignments. Our teacher, MsHooch, asked me to collect everyone's work and before I knew what I was saying I responded with an ever polite-"Yes, Ms._ Smooch_.

_I really didn't_ mean to say that. Everyone had been discussing this recent paper-work she'd given us and almost every other guy referred to her as Ms. Smooch, it might have had something to do with the fact that guys found her really..._attractive_. But, the point is-it was _just_ a slip of the tongue on my part.

But before I could even register what I'd said, the whole class burst out laughing and the next thing I know, she's glaring at me and then, "_Detention,_ Cullen!"

I couldn't attend practice that day. The coach was livid of course, and then the gigantic loss on top of that. As if that wasn't good enough, I got a 'C' in that assignment of ours, my first.

"I know bro, you wouldn't have said that on purpose even if your _life_ depended on it." She said, trying to stifle her laughter. "Not my nineties' gentleman-like brother."

"I am glad someone's enjoying the destruction of my life." I muttered, glaring at her.

She just rolled her eyes.

"Why are you going to school early though?" I asked her, sincerely curious.

"Oh! I just needed to get to the art room and complete this bag I was trying to make." She said, grinning broadly and…blushing?

She was looking really excited. She was more enthusiastic and bubbly than usual. She had been really _different _since a few days. She was happier than I'd _ever _seen her. Today she was all chirpy, bubbly and effervescent...it was like the best thing possible was going to happen. She had been grinning the whole weekend. Anyway, it was nice to see her like this.

Soon we got to school, thanks to Alice's crazy driving, and the dread came thundering back at me. Coach could be really scary if he wanted to, and I was really not looking forward to it.

"Have a nice day Edward." Alice called as I dashed for the court.

"_Sure _will," I yelled, all the sarcasm marred by my heavy breathing.

I ran with all my might, god knows why, seeing as I was already 45 minutes late. It was _just_ to be expected; I _should_ have known my alarm clock would stop working just when I needed it.

Coach had arranged special, hourly practices for us before school to ensure that we will be fully prepared for our match this Saturday. We needed to win this one to make our way into the semi-finals; we couldn't afford another loss. Immersed in my thoughts, I ran, keeping my fingers crossed. Just as I turned around the corner, I ran right into someone causing someone-a girl- to lose balance and start falling. Reflexively I caught her around her waist and steadied her.

I found myself staring into the most captivating, innocent, chocolaty brown eyes, which were so deep, I felt like I was lost in them for a while. I don't know how long I stood like that- seconds, minutes, hours, before I could register any other thing, she bowed her head down, embarrassed, I could see her cheeks turn red through the thick curtain of her mahogany hair covering her face. I realized that I'd been holding her very close; I hurriedly loosened my grip on her, and made my way past her, looking down all the while, whispering a "sorry" as I ran back towards the court.

I felt a slight pang in my heart as I ran away from her. It felt _wrong. _Weird. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was most possibly about to get kicked off of the team? As this thought occurred to me I began to fret again.

As I was about to enter the gym, I found myself face to face with my teammates, sans my coach.

"Edward! Nice of you to show up." Garret, our captain, chided.

"Sorry Garret. I really am. The coach is probably pretty mad."

He snorted." Understatement of the year. He was positively fuming." My heart sank. Garret continued. "We were expecting to see him steaming any moment. But-"

"But?" I asked, incredulously.

He smirked. "He got distracted."

"Huh?" Was all I could manage to stutter.

"There's this new student, three actually, they're all good friends I suppose. Well, anyway, one of the guys-Emmett- was the basket ball captain in his previous school and is an absolute pro at the game." Garret said animatedly.

Emmett? It seemed to ring a bell in my mind.

"Yeah, so he came in this morning and expressed an interest in joining our team and you know how we need a player pretty badly, what with Josh and Frank still recovering. Coach gave him a chance and he totally got him dude. He's been dotting over him ever since and left with him for the office to personally ensure his papers were properly deposited, you know all that formal stuff that new students gotta do. We are _so_ gonna win this one now."

I cooled down a bit; maybe he wouldn't kick me off now. Maybe he'll just be angry and leave it at that? Or maybe the chances of my getting kicked out just increased, seeing as this new guy seems to be really good...

Before I could utter another word, I saw coach enter the court with this pretty well-built guy, who I assumed was Emmett, at his side. He seemed oddly familiar.

"Okay guys. It's fixed then. Welcome Emmett, your new teammate. He's going to be playing this weekend." Coach announced.

The sight of our coach only intensified my dread. What would he do about my being late today? I barely heard the instructions he was giving to Garret.

"..._Remember guys_, we lost out to them in the finals, and now we are meeting them at the quarter-finals and beating them is the only way of getting into the semi-finals. There is _no_ way that we can lose this match! Am I clear?"

"Yes sir." We yelled in unison.

"You guys still have fifteen minutes. Get to the game." Coach ordered.

Wow. He completely forgot about me being late. The relief almost made me giddy.

Ben smirked and spoke up, smiling all the while." I don't mean to hurt your ego Edward_, _but yes, your absence earlier went unnoticed."

I rolled my eyes at him. I couldn't have been happier about it right now.

"Edward Cullen?" Emmett asked, frowning.

"Yes." I said, wondering how he could have known me.

His face broke into a huge grin, a very familiar grin. "Oh _dude_! Its me, Emmett McCarty from Forks, remember?" he asked.

Forks! Yes, we'd spent our early middle school years in that little, relentlessly rainy town. That's where we had been before Alaska. I now remembered Emmett; he was my classmate back then. He was the closest thing to a friend I ever had; I am not the most social person. He and Alice used to really get along. He was like another brother to her. He would sometimes join us at the 'Cullen table' at lunch.

"Oh right, of course, Emmett. Great to see you again." I said, smiling genuinely.

"You too dude." He spoke.

"Okay guys, focus." Garret ordered, and got us into action.

Emmett really was good. It was encouraging to see the stronger position of the team.

"So Edward, how have you been?" Emmett spoke as we made our way to the locker room after being dismissed from the practice.

"I've been doing fine. How about you? " I asked.

"I've been awesome." He answered. "How's Pixie?"

I chuckled. "Alice is good too"

Now I remembered. Emmett was the one to come up with this nickname for Alice.

"Cool. I've gotta meet her soon." He said.

"I'm sure you'll find her around." I said.

"Cool then. I'll see you man." He said.

"Sure Emmett." I said and made my way to my locker.

Emmett swiftly changed and walked out of the room and I followed not much later. I saw him approach two people-a guy and a girl, covertly. The two of them were facing away from us. As Emmett got nearer, the guy saw him and smiled amusedly. Emmett put a finger to his lips to keep the guy from informing the girl about his approach. As I walked past the little group, I could hear the girl yelp as Emmett lifted her off the ground and swirled her around.

"_Not_ funny Emmett" I could make out her angry voice from somewhere behind me.

"_Sure it was_! For _me._" Emmett retorted.

I chuckled at Emmett's child like nature. He hadn't changed much.

I made my way to my first class, math, slowly. After settling in my seat I remembered the homework. I'd forgotten to collect it from my study table.

Great.

Another normal day at school. I suppose I'd get another detention today and then I'd definitely get thrown off the team. I smacked my forehead with my palm.

Ms Hooch was_ already_** so** very _fond _of me; she'd probably get me thrown out out of school this time.

Right then Mr. Jefferson entered the class and informed us that Ms. Hooch would be unable to take our class today, due to some official work she had to attend to.

Wow. Was this really happening? Did I just avoid a detention? Did I just...get _lucky?_

Wow.

My next few classes were hassle free too. I maintained my low profile, like I usually did, sans the minor irksome events that usually took place around me.

Soon it was lunch. I made my way to the cafeteria hurriedly to grab my lunch and clear out before it got too crowded. I wasn't in any mood for any pointless chatter today. As I entered the cafeteria I came face to face with Rosalie Hale.

"Hi, Rose." I said with a smirk.

"Oh, joy! It's Edward." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

The relationship between Rosalie and me was..._interesting, _to say the least. Esme, my adoptive mother, had tried to set up a date for the two of us. Our families were friendly. I had blatantly scoffed at the idea. Not only because she was a senior but also because she was always like a sister to me. Though even Rosalie never harboured any feeling for me, my indifference had irked her. She was used to being admired and wanted by every guy. We both were like quarrelling siblings and always sarcastic. It was always fun to be around her; she always came up with witty come-backs.

"So Mr. '_Playmaker,"_ she said, voice dripping with sarcasm." I heard you have a new addition to the loser team of yours? Is _he_ any good or will we cheerleaders be shouting our lungs out only to see another humiliating loss?"

Her cryptic comments had a way of making me smile.

"Hey Rose, Edward!" Alice's chirpy voice interrupted our oh-so-pleasant conversation.

"Hey Alice." We both responded.

"What are _you _guys talking about?" She asked, smiling amusedly.

"Oh! Rose here wanted to know about the new guy in the team." I said, smirking.

Before Rose could open her mouth to say anything, Alice spoke up-

"Oh yes! He _is_ a major hottie. I tell you he's into some serious working out. He is a friend of ours." She informed Rose."

"Really?" Rose questioned. Alice nodded.

Emmett told me he met you already." She told me on an aside.

"Yeah." I answered, looking down. What else could you do when girls, especially your sister and sister like friend, discuss _hotties?_

"Which one? That blonde one?" Rose continued her inquisition.

"Oh no, that's...that's Jasper Hale. Oh! Angela is here. I needed to talk to her. Rose I'll be at our usual table." Alice muttered and walked away.

I refocused my attention on Rose and found her staring at something-someone actually- with her mouth hanging open. I followed her stare and found myself looking at Emmett who was laughing his head off, along with the other two.

I put my finger under Rose's chin and shut her mouth with a smirk on my face.

"He's taken." I whispered, pointing at the girl I'd seen with Emmett earlier. She had her head resting on the table; one of her hands resting on Emmett's forearm, and was shaking due to all the laughing she was doing.

I wanted to go see Emmett, but then I decided to let him have some quality time with his special friends.

"Okay then, I'll get going. Have a nice day."

I collected an apple from the food tray and fled from the cafeteria. I didn't feel like fooling around today. I went to the biology room, as there were still a good thirty minutes of the period left. I took my iPod out and plugged the headphones in my ears and put my head down in hope of getting some rest. I found my thoughts drifting off to the unfamiliar, beautiful eyes every so often and every time I would sit bolt upright. What was with me and this set of gorgeous, enticing eyes?

I guess I was embarrassed at myself, remembering how I'd held her so close for god knows how long, embarrassing her too. The thought made my cheeks go warm, out of discomfiture I suppose.

What else could it be, after all?

I wish I could at least apologize properly, look at her properly. Uh, I mean, just apologize properly. I put my head down again and tried to drive these odd thoughts away, without much success.

Soon the students started filling in and the teacher arrived. I saw an unfamiliar girl make her way to the seat next to me- the only empty seat. Her head was bent down and she was blushing furiously. I smiled at her nervousness. She must be the new girl- Emmett's girlfriend. I smiled at that; Emmett didn't seem like the guy to go for someone as quiet and shy as this girl looked.

She came up to our table and looked up. I was surprised to find myself looking into a pair of very familiar, very pretty chocolaty brown eyes.

_No Way!_

This _isn't_ happening!

It's _her! _And she's _Emmett's girlfriend._

Before I could make any sense of whatever was wrong with me, she smiled at me tentatively; managing to drive away every thought I had other than her smile. I suppose she realized that I was the idiot who'd bumped right into her near the court earlier. I just couldn't bring myself to react. A very odd, very new sensation was coursing through me. I felt _sad...hurt...and angry?_

I looked back at my book, not knowing what to do. I couldn't understand what to do. She was still standing by her chair. My actions had startled her no doubt. I tried to look up and smile at her. But as I looked at her again, her face held shock, I felt anger and frustration course through me again. I felt my throat go dry.

I looked away again. She sat down and threw her thick, long mahogany hair over her right shoulder, creating a curtain between her and me. I could still notice her cheek going red, I felt like they were drawing me closer; it was so adorable.

I shook my head and leaned away from her, trying to stop looking at her.

What was going on?

I couldn't explain the anger that was coursing through me.

This feeling was driving me crazy. I decided to read our book, because I doubted Mr. Banner could hold my attention for long. I decided to read about Cellular Anatomy and distract myself.

Mr. Banner continued lecturing on, well, something that I didn't quiet notice.

After a while...

"Alright, surprise test. Cellular Anatomy." Mr. Banner declared.

My eyes widened. Is this really happening? Are we having a test on the very chapter I _just _finished revising?

What was with luck getting all generous with me today?

I got all the questions to the pop quiz, too. I was the first one to submit the paper, and was now waiting for the bell to ring.

I couldn't help but think about my reaction earlier. She probably thinks I'm mad. I sighed internally. I kept myself from looking at her again, worried that my tongue would lock on its own again!

What was going on?

I kept battling internally on how to start a conversation.

Suddenly the sweetest of voices sounded from my side, I turned around to find the girl,_ the _girl, call for our teacher to submit her paper. I'd never heard a more beautiful voice.

"Well, Isabella, are you done?" Mr. Banner asked, sounding slightly surprised.

Isabella. A very fitting name. Loveliest name I'd ever heard.

"Yes sir, and please, only Bella."

Bella. _Beautiful_. Yes, this suited her even better.

"Looks like you got most of it. I'm glad to discover you are a promising student." Mr Banner continued, clearly pleased.

She was smart too. Somehow I wasn't surprised.

I didn't notice Mr. Banner leave. I was back at staring at the girl. She started to blush again, and I knew she could sense my gaze on her, but she didn't look at me; she was determinedly looking anywhere but at me. Her jaws looked like she was clenching them. Annoyance rushed through me this time and I felt a slight ache in my chest. I rushed out of the room as soon as the bell rang.

Angry? Why was I angry? Shouldn't I be happy over all the lucky things that happened to me today?

Despite all the things that went magically right today, I felt like today I'd been more unlucky than ever before.

I sighed deeply, banging my head slightly on my locker door. I suppose this overload of luck was driving me crazy.

"Edward" Alice's voice rang through the corridor.

I turned my head towards the sound of her voice and saw her rushing to me.

"Edward, take my car back home." She said, handing me her keys.

"What?" I asked, surprised. She surely wouldn't have said what I thought I heard her say.

Alice never let me drive her Porsche.

"I know you don't have your Volvo with you today and you've got your practice after school. You can take the Porsche; I'll have Rose drop me."

She said this and hurried away.

I made my way to my Spanish class in a daze. Alice letting _anyone_ touch her Porsche didn't happen every day and today she's letting me drive it.

I guess today is just a dream.

I entered the class and sat at the first desk I found empty.

"Hey Eddie!" An annoyingly nasally voice sounded from behind me.

Oh no! _Big_ mistake. Lauren was making her way towards me.

I always made sure I entered the class a little after every one was settled to avoid any unwanted attention. I was so glad when it seemed like Lauren and the others had gotten over whatever it was that made them follow me around everywhere. Yet, they never left any chance they found when I was around, so I thought it best to avoid them. More polite.

Looks like my quota of luck for the day is over. I sighed.

All of a sudden there was a snapping sound followed by a shrill shriek.

Lauren appeared to have broken her way too long heel and that had apparently made her lose her balance, resulting in her falling on her back, pretty hard, apparently.

Some people burst out laughing; she wasn't the most liked person, thanks to her superior cheerleader attitude.

"You...you..._shut your mouth."_ She shot to everyone in general and left the class.

Phew. That was close.

Well, as long as this lucky day of mine lasts, I might as well be grateful for it.

Rest of the Spanish class went without any hassles. The teacher actually smiled at me.

I hurried to the boys locker room and changed for the practice. As I was entering the room I saw Emmett, Bella and the other guy who, I recalled, was called Jasper. Bella was leaning into Emmett and he had his arms around her. A spasm of anger and what felt like pain shot through me, locking me in place. Bella lifted her head and her eyes landed on me, she blushed furiously. She looked slightly flustered and hurt.

I hurriedly went inside and dumped my stuff in the locker. I shook my head and tried to get rid of these confusing thoughts. I changed and went back out. This time I found Emmett with Jasper. Bella was nowhere to be seen. I suppose I scared her away. I didn't understand why it made me a little sad.

"Hey, Edward." Emmett said.

"Oh! Hey Emmett." I wondered why I was finding it difficult to be as friendly to Emmett as I was in the morning.

"You okay dude? You look pretty preoccupied." The other one, Jasper, spoke.

"Oh no, I'm good."

"I'm Jasper Whitlock." He spoke, offering his hand.

I shook his hand. "Edward Cullen. Nice to meet you."

"You too." Jazz spoke.."Okay, so Em, I'll be back in an hour and a half then?"

"I told you there's no need for you to. I'll take a cab or something." Emmett protested, looking irritated.

"Is there a problem?" I asked.

"Oh, it's just that we've only brought my car today, so Em doesn't have a ride to get back home after school." Jazz spoke.

"And that's why I'd take a cab. Jeez Jasper, I'm not six." Emmett spoke.

"I'll give you a ride" I offered.

"That'd be cool. Thanks,man." Emmett said gratefully. "So Jazz, stop treating me like a lost puppy and take Bella home with you. I'll be there in about an hour or so. "

My heart was jumping around in my chest. Bella lived with Emmett?

How could that be? I suppose what he meant was drop Bella at _her_ place. Right?

"Okay then, see you late." I vaguely heard Jasper's greeting.

"Yeah, See you." I muttered as I made my way to the court with Emmett in a haze.

I was glad I offered to drop Emmett off; I wanted to learn more about them...more about her.

That's a first. I was never the one to take any interest in anything anyone did, and now I was desperate to find all about this new girl.

Why? The sane part of me questioned. I had no answer to it.

"Okay guys, head in the game." The coach called, ordering us in position.

The practice was really good. The team was different today. More optimistic than it had been since the last match. More ready than before.

The coach kept us at it for about two hours. The hours were bound to increase now, with only days left to prepare. I was pretty certain the remaining days were to be spent in the court.

Soon I was making my way to the parking lot with Emmett.

"Wow, who would have believed that coach would take me in the team days before this game." Emmett spoke.

"I suppose you were good enough." I spoke, but somehow I didn't sound very friendly. He wasn't all that great now, was he?

"Porsche 911 Turbo!" Emmett spoke, with evident reverence in his voice. " And it's yellow!"

"It's my sister's. Mine broke down in the morning." I informed him.

"Thanks for the ride, man." He spoke.

I just shrugged.

"Where to?" I asked

Emmett gave me his address and I drove to that place. It was fairly away from my place, and I hadn't been to this area ever before. I wasn't much of an outdoor person.

Our ride home was full of basketball related exchanges and the silences were filled with thoughts of Bella. Soon I was pulling over near his place.

Loud music was blaring from the house. I knew this song. I'm sure I have this CD lying around somewhere.

I could make out Bella's voice crooning the lyrics, and she was a good singer. I smiled. Who would have foreseen this side of the shy, blushing Bella Swan? This girl was definitely full of surprises.

"These two are going to get us kicked out before we manage to set all our stuff up." Emmett spoke amusedly.

My heart seemed to have stopped working. They _did_ live together.

They must be really into each other then. I wondered why it made me so anxious. I suppose I was just concerned. It seemed to be too early for them to move in together.

"Come on in Edward." Emmett invited me.

"No, I've got to go." I said, with no trace of politeness and without waiting for any response I reversed my car and rushed away like the world was about to end. I absolutely _needed_ to get away right now. I knew it wasn't wise for _me_ to drive so fast and rash, but I decided to push my luck a bit more today.

I stopped for a coffee on my way, and once I'd sipped the liquid, I breathed deeply. Why was I reacting the way I was?

This was one crazy day.

I shook my head and decided to just forget about it. I knew I'd have to get a grip on myself.

I went back to Alice's Porsche and I decided I could use some music; I flipped open the compartment below the CD player and my eyes fell on a CD that made me smile.

I played the same song I'd heard Bella singing a while ago.

I chuckled and headed for home. This girl would be the death of me.

*********

**AN**: Okay, so that was it. I really need you to tell me how you found it. I really do. Please? Pretty Please?

RevBottom of Form


	5. Show me what I'm looking for

**AN:**** Hey people, here's the next chapter, and if I've still got any readers left-Sorry you guys, I know I took my own sweet time updating this one...but if it's any consolation, this one's pretty long. It's in Alice's viewpoint and will clear a lot of things up and bring up new questions at the same time (Hopefully!)**

**Also, I know I sound pathetic here, but anyway, I really would like to know what you think of what I write...I **_**do **_**work hard on it, and I wait to see what you think of it. Something that made you smile, something you hated, and something you wish had been there, anything...I welcome all suggestions and views.**

**Oh, and a huge thanks to my most lovely beta-bronzehairedgirl620-she rocks, but who doesn't know that!**

**Show Me What I'm looking for**

**APOV**

I looked over myself in the mirror for what seemed like the 100th time that morning. I inspected my hair again. All spikes in place? Check. Then I ran my eyes down my dress ensemble-I'd kept it for this very day, complete with shoes and accessories. I decided that it would be a good idea to do my eyes a bit, just a little bit. I wanted to look my very best today.

I knew today would be special- very, _very _special. I knew that somehow that unknown person, _the one and only_ for me, was being brought closer to me, _finally_.  

I knew it, just like I knew many other things.    

Well, yes, I am a little _different _that way. I had a way of just knowing things. You could say it was a hyperactive insight. I had long ago accepted it and learned to trust it. I just went with what I felt was the best thing to do, and it never failed me. I had learned to like it and be grateful for it. It made me different, unique.

 At first, when I was five years old, I thought it was just coincidence. I thought it was just a chance that my tests had the very same questions I thought they would. I thought it was happen by chance that my lunch had the very same food I thought it would. I thought it was cool, but not for long. It had started to creep me out. I thought I was a freak, and having a forever drunk mother didn't help my situation. I didn't know who my dad was. Basically, I had no one to turn to.

That one evening had changed everything.

My mother was about to leave for her evening 'get-drunk-and-wasted' routine. I had tried to discourage this habit of hers as best as I could, but had always ended up being yelled at.

That evening, I had clung to her feet. I was really anxious. Something inside me knew that she shouldn't leave. The feeling made me very scared. I cried, begged, pleaded for her to stay. My beseeching was disregarded. She left, leaving me sobbing.

A few hours later the voice of the telephone, shrill and demanding, broke my hysterics, and I was informed that my mother was in the hospital, recovering from an accident.

Drinking and driving had taken its toll.   I didn't know what to do. The hospital had probably informed our neighbors too. I hadn't seen much of them. People preferred to stay away from the drunken woman that was my mother. They decided to help us out of this emergency though, bless their souls. They took me to the hospital.

 I still remember that scene with perfect clarity. My mother was covered in plaster and wires. I had sat next to her, not knowing what to do. I had seen a lot of policemen around too, scrounging for details of the accident. Then the doctors came in. One of the doctors had taken my hand and I had grasped it. I needed to feel that I had someone to bank on and his concerned, intense eyes told me that he wouldn't push me away.

He made me sit in his office. I knew I was safe there. I'd slept on the huge chair he had settled me in, and when I woke up I found him and a few police officers. They wanted to know about my mother and her drinking habits. I sat on the doctor's lap as they questioned me.

The doctor had briefly left me alone in his chamber to talk with the other people. When he came back, he wanted to know if I would like to stay with him and his wife for a few days. I knew I had nothing to be scared of, and I had said yes.

I liked them both, the doctor and his wife. They were very nice and loving people; I had never known nicer people. Esme, the doctor's wife, was more loving and caring than I could have dreamed my mother to be, and Carlisle, the doctor, was everything I thought a father would be like.

A week after my mother's accident a few officers had come to the house. They informed us that my mother was to be sent to rehabilitation center, and I was to be sent to an orphanage. I hated the idea of never seeing Carlisle and Esme ever again, and Esme had tears in her eyes by the time the officers finished his chatter. Esme, who had been holding me in her lap all the while, hugged me closer, and I clung to her like my life depended on it. The amount of attachment I'd grown to feel towards these people in such a short span was astounding.

Suddenly, without a word, Esme carried me away from the hall, away from all those people, and into the room that had become mine in the past week. She locked us both inside and refused to come out. She wouldn't let go of me, nor would I. She wouldn't open it, even when Carlisle requested her to. Carlisle tried to reason with her, but the only thing Esme would say was that she wouldn't let me be taken away.   I had been so scared. I didn't want to go away from these people either. It was the closest I'd ever felt to having a family...having a home.

I nuzzled into her neck and my sobs broke free as Esme's tears ran down her cheeks and onto mine. In that moment, I did the only thing I could think of doing-I asked Esme to keep me with her, to never let me go.

Esme had looked up and asked me if I really wanted to live with them. I'd nodded my head. She asked me if I'd like to become their daughter, and then I knew that's how it would be. All the horror and the fear had gone and I felt safer than ever.

"I'd love to be your daughter. I _want_ to be your daughter, mommy." I'd said, and Esme had burst into a fresh round of tears, happy tears, while I smiled, and felt happy at the feeling of having someone care for me the way she did. I wiped her tears and she kissed me all over my face.

"You'll be my daughter. You _are _my daughter." She said, and that's what happened.

Alice Mary Brandon became Alice Mary Brandon Cullen, daughter of Dr. Carlisle Cullen and Mrs. Esme Cullen, sister of Edward Anthony Masen Cullen.

I hadn't got to know Edward much during my initial days. He was a very quiet and private person. He'd been adopted by Esme and Carlisle only six months before me. After his adoption in Chicago they'd moved to Biloxi, and that's where I became a part of the family.

I only saw Edward during meals. He kept to himself all the time, until that night...

I still remember that terrifying nightmare. In that lurid dream, I had seen Esme and Carlisle hugging me just like every other day, kissing me just like they did whenever I rushed up to them, smiling at me like always, but then they discovered about my uncanny, eerie ways of just 'knowing' things and pushed me away. They told me that I was a freak, a burden to them, just like I was an unwanted load on my mother. They said they'd get rid of me, just like my mother always said she would.

 This thought had been haunting me for a while. I had noticed them notice my slip-ups. Esme and Carlisle shared stunned looks every time I let my guard down and answered their unfinished questions, or 'predicted' things which always turned out to be true.

 I woke with a start and began crying in earnest. I had lost all sense at that instant. I just let my grief flow as my tears, all of it, all which had been building inside me ever since I was old enough to understand things.

 Then I had felt a gentle, warm hand on my shoulder. I tried to shake it away but the hold was firm. I felt myself being turned around to face the owner of that grasp. I had found myself facing my adoptive brother, Edward.

His room had been right next to mine. I suppose my wailing had waked him up.

"_Don't cry Alice."_ He had said, staring into my eyes. His eyes filled only with concern and sincerity.

He held out his hands for me. I let him hug me.

"_Don't worry, Alice. You just had a nightmare; there is nothing to worry about."_

Those words had calmed me a lot. I had not said anything, but yet he seemed to say just the things I needed to hear. It was like he knew what I was thinking.

My frenzied wails had quieted to sobs, and I knew he was right, but I shook my head. They didn't know me, did they?

He had seated himself next to me and had let me cry some more. He had then held me close, and eventually the feeling of being cared for and looked after increased, and my sobs had died.

"_Why are you crying Alice?"_ He had asked.

"_They won't like me. They'll send me back."_ I had managed to stutter. I didn't know if it was enough, but he seemed to have understood.

"_They won't, Alice. They are really nice people and they really love you."_

"_They don't. They won't love me if they knew me" _I had said.

"_Yes, they would. They know you and they love you." _He had said.

"_No they don't know me"_ I had insisted, looking into his eyes. I knew I could trust him. I knew that he, my brother, could be trusted with the one thing nobody else knew. _"I know things."_

His brows had furrowed in confusion. _"What things?"_

I had lowered my voice, and leaned forward to finally share my 'secret'.

"_I know things."_ I had sighed and told him all about my 'experiences'.

He had listened to me and processed the piece of information I had provided him, and gradually a gentle smile made its way on his face. I had noticed that it was crooked, but it suited him. He looked better like this than when he was all serious and glum.

"_That's a good thing then." _He had said, rolling his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing. It was like he thought I was stupid to think that it would be a problem.

"_Really?"_ I had questioned.

"_Of course Alice. They'd only love you more for this."_ He had assured with a smile.

"_Do you think so?"_ I had persisted.

"_I __**know**__ so" _He had said with a smirk. I had giggled, but, I still remember, it had gotten interrupted with a huge yawn.

"_You should sleep." _He had said, getting up to leave the room_._

I had stopped him. Having him around made me feel nice and I didn't want to go back to having bad dreams.

"_No. I don't want to sleep. I'll have nightmares again."_

"_You won't."_ He had promised.

"_I __**know**__ I will."_ I had said_, _smiling slyly_._

He had rolled his eyes. I had laughed at his casual acceptance of my eeriness, but at the same time his attitude intensified my faith in the possibility of this unusualness being a gift.

And then, I had yawned again and he'd noticed-again.

"_You should sleep."_ He had said again, furrowing his brows in concern.

I had pouted-a reflex reaction.

"_Okay Alice, promise me something: you will speak of this to no one."_ He said, sighing heavily.

"_Anything_." I knew he was going to keep my secret, so I would keep his.

He had lifted me off the bed and carried me to the living room. He was only about a year older to me. I was six and I knew he was seven, but he was tall and I was tiny and thin to the extreme, and so he had no problem carrying me. He had taken me to where a piano was kept.

He had made me sit on the bench and he sat next to me.

"_Remember. This is between you and me."_ He said.

He had then begun playing a soft tune. It was very soothing and calming. Soon I found my head almost drooping. He had smiled at me, but I still remember that the smile didn't reach his suddenly expressionless, blank eyes.

"_You play very well, why don't you want people to know that?" _I asked him.

"_It's nothing and you promised won't tell anyone."_

"_I won't."_

"_That's my sister." _He had said, ruffling my hair.

I had felt my heart elate at that. I knew he had meant it, and that meant a lot to me.

He had carried me and tucked me in my bed, which was so big that three more kids could have slept in it. I slept very well that night, free of all my worries and insecurities, but I had a feeling that Edward didn't get any rest that night.

That night had changed a lot of things. I truly accepted that Carlisle and Esme were my parents. I wasn't a burden to them. They loved me. They'll always love me, and I'll always love them. I had the most loving, caring, and the smartest brother in the whole wide world, and he had accepted me as his sister. I got a family. A true, happy, loving and caring family...

 I gave myself a last once-over._ Not bad. _Time for me to get moving, then.

"Morning Mom."

"Morning, honey. You're early today." She observed, and went to the kitchen to fix breakfast.

"Yeah, I'm going early today; just some stuff at school." _I have to search for my prince charming!_

"Oh. Okay. Would you like-"

"Blueberry pancakes," I interrupted expressively.

"Of course." She said with a knowing smile. She collected the container with the batter, while I placed the pan on the burner.

"Did dad leave early again today?" I asked.

"Yes." She sighed. "You'd think he was married to his job." She said, rolling her eyes and yet smiling lovingly.

I giggled. Dad loved his job. He loved helping others in any way he could, and it was one of the things mom loved about him.

"So, I suppose you'll be busy with the jewelry shop project this afternoon?"

Esme was an architect, and a well known one at that.

"Yes. I'll wrap up this one up by the weekend. I need to sit and talk over it with the board today."

Suddenly a loud voice sounded from what could only be Edward's room. _Not again._ He was supposed to be in the practice right now!

I hurriedly finished my breakfast, took an apple and left with a "bye mom."

I got into my Porsche and made my way to Edward's Volvo. Something told me that I could expect a good, long conversation with him in my car this morning.

I suppose last night's movie marathon got to him. I wouldn't have made him stay up so late any other day, but yesterday was special!

It had been the 11th year since that day, night actually, when Edward and I had found a true sibling in each other. Eleven years since the day when I'd had that nightmare...eleven years since Edward helped me realize that I had the best family in the whole wide world.

That day had become the most important day of my life. I always celebrated it with Edward. I never mentioned why; I just made him be with me that day, and because he was the loving brother that he was, he never declined.

 I could never forget that he had played his piano for me that day. He'd never played it since. It was years later that I understood why he wouldn't play it, and every time I thought of that conversation with Esme, I couldn't help but feel guilty, but also moved that Edward _did_ play it for _me_ that day. I couldn't have asked for a better brother.

 I couldn't believe all the things that Edward was carrying within himself. He was burying those memories inside him, and I was dying to help him out of his sorrow. If only I knew what to do.

 I saw Edward run up to his Volvo and try to start it with no success. He was in such a hurry that he didn't even notice me. I greeted him cheerfully, and that's when he realized my presence. He looked so tired. His hair was even more messed up than usual; they hardly ever sat tame. They seemed to have a mind of their own.

 We left for the school, talking about this and that. We laughed- well, _I_ laughed while he scowled- at the memory of their last match, and then that stupid 'Miss _Smooch_' incident.

 Edward and his everlasting _'luck'_. This piece of Edward's misfortune had spread through the whole school faster than a wild fire.

 I knew this was just another of his 'lucky' moments. My brother was _too_ much of a perfect boy for that. He had always been like that. He'd never set a foot out of line in his entire life. He was an excellent student of course, but at the same time he would participate in an insane number of extra-curricular activities too. All the way from a million types of martial art techniques to calligraphy classes...he'd been everywhere, and he knew it all.

Mom and dad had to literally force him to attend a party or two.

Every single person around us would do whatever it took to get around Edward-the 'perfect' guy, the one they said just 'had it all'. The one they would say was just lucky..._born with a silver spoon._

If only they knew Edward. If only they knew why Edward kept every second of his day fully occupied...how he was distancing himself from everyone, how he was distancing himself from...himself.

Edward veered the direction of our conversation to my going to school early. I blushed, and at the same time I felt madly happy; the thought of _that_ face did that to me.

This thought of him made me remember how I first _saw_ him. The first time I ever _saw_ the face was when I was fourteen. It was the night before our starting High School. I was lying on my bed, staring at the sky from my window, just thinking.

I was wondering what High school would be like, and marveling on how soon I had grown up already. I was in awe of how in four short years I'd be ready to be on my own.

I was wondering about what my future had in store for me, and that's when it happened- I had my first vision - a flash of some sort.

I saw an unknown yet stunningly gorgeous face. The sight of him made me feel tranquil, euphoric. At first I thought it was a dream, but it continued to invade my thoughts. I had a feeling that it was going to be a vital part of my life, but it was odd.

I never usually _saw_ things! But I couldn't deny the feeling it evoked in me. I couldn't help but feel insanely happy every time I thought of it, or at times when the _image_ just showed up on its own.

I decided to accept it, to trust my intuition, like always and wait for the person to be in my life.

Eventually, I grew insanely attached to it, and I knew that this face just _had _to be a part of my life.

The image had been growing stronger for a while. I knew that _he_ would have honey blonde hair, striking blue eyes, an unbelievably gorgeous face and that he would be tall and leonine. I knew I'd see him soon. I knew things would be perfect then, for me...for us.

 Nobody knew about him, not even Edward. There was something very personal abouthat _vision_. It was only mine, _only_ mine.

Edward turned to look at me curiously, as if he was studying my reactions, and that's when I remembered he had asked a question. I mentioned the bag I was working on in Arts and craft. It wasn't a lie, not really. I _was _working on a bag in my arts and crafts.

I loved doing such stuff. I knew that's what I should do ever since Esme had started teaching me arts and crafts and such stuff. Designing and bringing my imagination to life was something I loved to do. I knew that was what I _would_ do.

Soon we reached school, and Edward dashed to his practice. I called out a greeting; I knew today would be good for him, and me too.

 I went inside and towards my locker, and it happened. It was just how I felt it would be.

 I saw _him. _I was finally, _really _seeing him.

 He was even more handsome than I had dreamed. He was striding towards my direction in the most confident of fashions; his eyes-striking, electric blue eyes- were focused on some papers. He was tall, lean and yet muscular. The sight of him made it impossible for me to move another step.

I stood stone still and saw him walk past. Undiluted ecstasy and placidness shot through me at the same time. I stifled a gasp at this foreign, joyous sensation. I'd finally found him. _He'd _finally found me. I couldn't help the feelings coursing through me. I couldn't believe that the man of my dreams, of my visions-in my case-was finally here, and I knew it wouldn't be long before he would finally be _mine_.

 **********  

My classes came and went; I could hardly concentrate on the topics, or anything else at all today. It was full of the thoughts of _him; _I needed to find his name out, soon. I made my way to my next class, still thinking of my 'prince charming'. The sound of someone dropping their books pulled me out of my reverie.

Some girl seemed to have dropped her books. She let out a frustrated sigh and bent down to pick them up. She seemed to be new here.

She had long, flowing brown hair. She wore a casual pair of jeans coupled with a cute tee.

"Let me help you" I offered.

 "Oh. Thanks" She said softly, smiling at me. She was very pretty and her smile lit up her face. I had a nice feeling about her.

"So, you're new?"

 "Yeah" She said, smiling charmingly. I could tell she was really good-natured and I had a feeling that we were going to be good friends.

 "I'm Alice." I introduced myself.

 "I'm Bella." She replied.

 I looked at her. "You're a junior, right?"

 "Yeah. That's right." She said, a little surprised.

 "Me too. What class do you have next?" I had a feeling that she was going to be in my class this hour, but I decided to spare her more shock.

 "Math." She replied, and I gave her a wide grin.

 "Me too." _Told ya._ "Come on, this way." I said, ushering her towards class.

"So, how are you finding?" I asked her conversationally after we had sat down. She shrugged.

 "Oh, fine. It's good." She said.

 I chuckled. She was just being polite, I could tell. "Bella, I've gone to many schools too. I know how it is." I informed her. 

"Fortunately, having my brother by my side helped a lot." I told her truthfully.

It really had. Edward was actually a year older than me, but he'd missed a good chunk of school when he was adopted. Carlisle and Esme decided to have him repeat the grade, making us both juniors this year.

It worked for both of us. We weren't the most outgoing people then; he still isn't. It was good that we had each other.

"Oh, I know. Having my best friends here with me makes things way better. Great, actually. I guess together we'll survive this whole 'new student' ordeal." She chuckled.

_Oh_. _Oh!_

"You moved here with your friends?" I asked her.

My mind was racing at a million miles per second. She knew the _other_ new students. Does this mean that she knows _him?_

 "Yeah." She said, slightly surprised, but still smiling. I guess my overly enthusiastic interest caught her off guard. "Actually, two of my friends and I moved here together."

 "I see. That must be great!" I said, wondering how exactly to get her talking about _him_. "I didn't know we had three new students. Are the others juniors too?"

"No. Jasper and Emmett are seniors." She informed me.

Jasper._ Jasper._ That has to be him. It suited him. _Jasper_!

So, _his_ name would be Jasper.

Emmett didn't quiet suit _him_. Emmett. That sounded familiar._ Emmett. Where had I heard it before?_

Oh!

"Emmett? Emmett McCarty?"

"Yeah" She said, surprised.

"Emmett's here! You guys moved here from Forks?" I asked, totally surprised.

Emmett was our old pal. Edward and I had gotten to know him during our stay in Forks. We weren't _very_ close back then, but he was a good guy; like another brother to me.

"Yeah, Emmett is here. He moved here from Forks, but not Jazz and me. How do you know Emmett?" She asked incredulously.

"He's an old friend of ours. How do you know him?" I asked her, genuinely curious.

"Well, actually he's my cousin."

"Wow. Small world!" I chuckled.

Our teacher chose that minute to appear. He asked Bella to introduce herself. She did, blushing through all of it. I smiled at her encouragingly.

She finished her little speech and got back and the teacher started his prattling. The questions I wanted to ask her were dying to come out of my mouth.

Bella seemed to be a good student. She had her eyes and ears locked on what the teacher was writing and saying. I tried to keep my curiosity (_what_ an understatement) in check, but it got the best of me.

"Well, why's Emmett here?" I whispered.

She looked at me, slightly amused. "He moved here with Jasper and me." She whispered back.

Jasper and she... didn't seem likely _that _way to me.

"So, Jasper is your brother too?" I asked her.

"Practically, yes. He's actually my best friend."

"Oh, I see. That's really sweet" I told her. "How does Emmett know Jasper?"

"Well, actually, Jasper went to Forks with me once. He and Emmett became friends."

"You came to Forks every year?" I asked her.

"Yeah, actually, I go there every summer to meet my dad- Chief Swan"

"Oh. So, you're Chief Swan's daughter. Very small world." I chuckled. "And this explains why I didn't see you earlier. My family and I have our yearly vacation every summer."

We talked a little more about how these three were great friends and how they were so were excited about being here.

The bell rang, signaling the end of our class. "Come on, I'll take you to Emmett." She said.

"_Sure_" I jumped up. This would mean seeing Jasper too. I squealed internally.

She chuckled at my enthusiasm. If only she knew the reason.

We found the two guys by the cafeteria door, probably waiting for Bella to arrive.

I could easily recognize Emmett. He was same as ever. But I could hardly focus on him, despite his build; not with Jasper in the same room. Not when I could see _the person_, not when I could look at the face that would soon mean _everything_ to me.

"Hey, Em. Guess who?" Bella said, grinning.

Emmett's baby like eyes looked at me just as Jasper's electric blue one's pierced mine. Our eyes seemed to lock for a short second before I was scooped into a huge hug by Emmett.

"_Pixie!_" He sang.

I chuckled. "Yes, Emmy-bear." I said. 'Emmy-bear' was my answer to Emmett's 'pixie'.

"Aw. C'mon...at least get it down to 'Em bear,' Pix." He said. "How've you been?"

"Really good. I'm guessing you've already seen Edward?"

"Oh yeah." He smirked. "We're on a team now."

"Great! I suppose _now _we can win." I smiled.

"Sure as hell." He laughed. "It'd take more than two falling boys to get me down."

I laughed. Of course he'd have heard of that incident by now. The others looked confused. That's when my eyes locked with Jasper's again.

I couldn't begin to explain the explosions that were taking place within me while he looked at me. I thought all the euphoria within me would make me pass out.

"Pixie this is..."

"Bella. I know. We're friends already." I informed him.

Bella looked at me, pleasantly surprised. I smiled at her. Silly Bella, who wouldn't want to be friends with her?

"Oh, of course." He laughed.

"Wasn't she the overtly sentimental cousin you always mentioned?" I asked him, smirking.

Bella's eyebrows shot up and she turned to face Emmett.

"You mean the lovely cousin I always talked so fondly about? Yes..._that's_ her!" Emmett said, glaring at me while trying to look innocent to Bella. It was comical.

I giggled.

"You know what Emmett? You can wash all the dishes yourself; I don't think we'd need a dish washer at all!" Bella spoke, staring right at Emmett.

"Bel-_laaa, _you _are_ very sensitive. I mean, remember how you'd cried when-"

"_Thank_ you very much Emmett, you can shut up now." Bella interrupted, blushing furiously. "By the way, Alice, meet Jasper."

Now I had the perfect excuse to look at him. I stared right into his eyes. I felt myself melting into a puddle right there, but somehow, I felt more confident, more sure of myself than ever before.

"Alice Cullen. Nice to meet you." I said, extending my hand.

"Jasper Whitlock. Nice to meet you, too." He said, taking my hand.

It felt like my throat was suddenly full of dancing butterflies. The feeling of having him hold my hand was absolutely amazing. _Incomparable_. I didn't ever want to let go of his hand. I smiled at him and drew my hand back. The fact that I was the one to take my hand back first filled me with a hope that he didn't want to break the contact either. This realization caught me off guard with its entirely too consuming power. The joy was too much to contain.

"I...I'll see you guys later. I need to go. Bye."

I hurried away from those eyes then, and found Rose and Edward locked in a _'conversation'._

I went up to them, meaning to distract myself, but as the discussion came right back to Jasper, I knew it was time for me to leave.

I caught Angela entering the cafeteria, I joined her at the table, ready for lunch, but I couldn't keep my eyes away from my Jasper. All three of them were guffawing like there was no tomorrow. My eyes were trained at Jasper. I noticed how his eyes had such a 'lively' feel to them. I could tell that he loved being around his friends.

 The way these three were around each other was so sweet. It made me smile, but at the same time stung a bit. How I wished to have such kind of relation with Edward.

We were pretty close, but not as much. Edward always distanced himself from everyone. It was once in a blue moon that I got a chance to enjoy his company fully.

Just then, their group burst into another round of laughter. Bella was turning redder by the minute, and I couldn't stop marveling at how _my_ heart warmed with seeing Jasper happy.

Suddenly, Angela cleared her throat, looking at me meaningfully; that's when I realized that I'd been smiling all the while, staring at a 'stranger'. I looked away and blushed. Angela being Angela didn't pester me further. Bless her.

After a while, Rose joined us. She hardly ever mingled with people. She kept herself surrounded by cheerleaders. She does join me every now and then; we always get together for shopping trips and sleepovers every once in a while. We're good friends, but she wasn't exactly the kind to glue herself to me, or anyone, really.

She looked preoccupied. She was thinking hard about something and it seemed to be bothering her.

"What's up, Rose?" I greeted. Angela looked concerned, but she didn't voice her worry. Rose was pretty intimidating.

"Nothing." She snorted lightly and rolled her eyes. She began pulverizing her granola bar.

I sighed. I suppose someone else had bought her favorite pair of shoes or something.

Before I could think of anything else to say, a nasally, annoying voice claimed my attention.

Jessica, Lauren and the other cheerleaders were collected near Jasper's table, talking to Bella, who looked slightly disgusted and very uncomfortable. Emmett looked pretty amused, typical him, and Jasper, I was-as bizarre and wacky as it sounds-violently happy to see, was trying to avoid those girls like plague.

Rose sighed heavily and strutted her way over to those girls, ordering them to assemble for their practice. I'm sure there is going be a lot of shouting during their practice today. Rose really was scary when provoked.

Jasper, and Bella, looked relieved. I stifled a laugh. It was oddly nice to see Jasper be so indifferent to those girls.

I found Jacob Black and his gang make their way to their table. I remembered Bella mention them. Jasper was now the guitarist for Mist, the band Jake and some of his friends had started. It was pretty obvious that these three got along pretty well with Jake and his gang, and if I wasn't mistaken (_ha_...As if!), Jacob kept stealing glances at Bella.

 Of course he was doing that. Bella was a very nice girl _and _she was amazingly pretty.

 Soon the recess was over. Time really does fly when you're enjoying yourself. I sighed internally. I could sit here forever looking at him. The three of them rose up and left for their classes. I internally debated over going after Jasper, but then I decided against it. I didn't want to act like a crazed stalker.

The next period went by unnoticed. I was too preoccupied with today's events. The charming eyes, the warmth, the feel of his hand on mine...the shrill sound of the bell broke my daydream.

I decided to check on Rose, just to make sure she was okay now, but I got more, much more than I'd bargained for. I saw Jasper enter the class. I suppose Rose and Jasper shared a class...lucky her, and then suddenly an idea struck me...

"...And _then_ she just - are you even listening? Alice?" Rose yelled. Jasper's head turned towards us. I couldn't tell if it was because of Rose's loud voice or...or something else, but I felt the now familiar sensation again.

 "Alice?" Rose snapped her fingers. He looked away and went inside.

 "I..I...can you give me a ride today?" I pleaded.

"Of course but..."

 "Thanks Rose, I'll meet you right _here_..."I yelled and rushed away. I found Edward and hand him the keys. Edward could _keep_ my Porsche; I would be getting to sneak another peek at _him_!

I spent the next period practically bouncing in my seat. It was impossible to tame the violent bursts of sheer joy in my heart. It was impossible not to smile as I thought of him. The class couldn't end fast enough.

Finally, as the class ended, I ran at an almost inhuman pace so I could look at him for as long as I could. I reached their class; the students had just started to leave the room. I soon located him. He was making his way out of the class with grace and poise. The sight of him made me sigh, jump, and squeal internally.

The girls were gawking at him unabashedly, and I was more than satisfied to see he didn't return their interest. He waited and let the girls pass before him, unlike most other boys. He was a gentleman, a southern gentleman, I thought, remembering his southern drawl as he'd spoken to me earlier, as he held my hand...

"Alice, are you okay?"

I jumped as Rose spoke. I looked at her and found her looking at me, half-annoyed and half-worried.

"Sorry, Rose. I was just...thinking." I said, tearing my eyes away from him. The fact that I couldn't go and just start talking to him was killing me, but I knew I had to wait for the perfect moment, and I'd know when it arrives.

"Whatever. Anyway, let's go." She said.

I followed her lead. Jasper had turned the other side. I suppose he had some work or something to attend to. I couldn't wait for the day when I would accompany him, wherever he went.

***************

 "Plain, _boring _brown hair, plain, _boring _brown eyes, _no_ sense of style...I mean _seriously_? Puh_-leaase..."_

I found Rose mumbling to herself while she looked up Edward's car. I smiled. Rose had this habit of mumbling to herself when she was annoyed at something.

Rose was one of a kind. She was stunningly beautiful and would work as a model part-time. The first offer just fell in her lap and others followed. She was a cheerleader too. She was beauty with brains. She absolutely loved working on cars.

Her only worry was her splendor. She was used to people worshipping her, and it had become essential to her happiness. Sort of vain, yes, but who's perfect? She was fiercely protective of the people she loved and cared for, and that's what I liked best about her.

"So, what's the verdict expert?" I asked her.

"I think it's time I boost his engine again and a few other things." Rose declared and went to the garage to collect all the stuff she'd need.

I left her alone with her work and went to the kitchen to fix a snack and heard some loud music blaring from Edward's room.

I caught what he was listening to, which made me confused. Seriously? Since when was Edward into stuff like that?

I went up to his room and peeked inside. He was sprawled on the bed and was looking really thoughtful.

I was surprised to see him doing _nothing_.

Edward hardly ever spent his time with himself. He always strived to keep himself excessively busy. He spent most of his afternoons at dad's hospital, helping him here and there, or studying this and that, or practicing...anything.

 He was doing everything he could to keep himself from delving into the thoughts he wished he could erase from his memory.

I wished I could make him see that he needed to deal with it, once and for all, and not to try and bury it, but I couldn't think of any way to do so without hurting him. Every time he was reminded of it, he would hurt, very much.

"Hey Edward." I called, as I walked over to him and sat next to him.

"Hey, Alice. Thanks for the Porsche. I still can't believe you let me use it." Edward said, collecting some wafers from the packet in my hand.

"Nor can I, actually." I told him, laughing. "How was your day?" I asked.

"Interesting." He mused.

"How so?" I asked, curious.

"Well, my '_luck _streak' got interrupted today." He said.

"_Really?_"

"Well...I didn't get kicked off, we got a new, promising player in the team, it so happened that I was fully prepared for a 'surprise' test'. I actually avoided detention in math today _and_ Lauren too-"

I snorted at that. These girls never caught a hint.

"...and then I got to ride _the _Porsche today." He concluded with a smirk.

"Looks like lady luck did smile on you today. Why do you think?" I asked.

"I guess I found my 'lucky charm' or something." He joked.

"Ha. Yeah. So you saw Emmett?" I said.

"Yeah. I met him, and his girlfriend too." He said with an odd expression on his face.

"His _what_?" I bellowed, half-surprised and half-amused. "God! Would you believe it! It's his _first _day here, and he has a _girlfriend!_"

"He already had one Alice. He brought her along." He said, looking sort of annoyed.

"Huh?" Was all I could think of as I tried to think of who it could possibly be.

"He _lives_ with her. They moved together I suppose, along with a friend of theirs."

"What are you talking about? " I asked, _absolutely_ clueless." I know for a fact that he lives with Bella and Jasper."

"And it so happens that Bella Swan is his girlfriend." He stated.

"_Gosh, Edward!_ She's his sister"

"What? Emmett has a sister?"

Edward could be so dense at times. "Cousin, sister, whatever. They're close. Don't you remember? Emmett used to tell us about his cousin? Chief Swan's daughter?"

Edward's mouth formed a little 'o'.

"Jasper?" he asked.

I dropped the bag of wafers, but Edward was past noticing anything.

"What about him?" I asked, cautiously.

"Is he her brother too? Cousin or something?" He asked, impatiently, trying, very hard, not to look too interested.

"I don't think so. I think they're best friends" I said, finally catching on and deciding to play a bit. I didn't want to give him just what he wanted to hear, not right away.

This day was _crazy_!

Was my brother-Edward Cullen-actually expressing any sort of interest in someone?

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's...it's just that I bumped into her early in the morning and then she was in my biology class, and I couldn't apologize properly, you know? I err...I was just asking." He said in a rush.

"Bumped into her?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

_Look at that blush!_

_Oh my! Get talking dear brother!_

 "I…err, I was hurrying to the court in the morning and I just bumped into her."

His face was getting redder...and redder.

"Why didn't you apologize later?" I asked, enjoying myself.

"I did see her before math...but I didn't really recognize her. I didn't recognize her at lunch either. I realized that the girl was Bella during Biology-"

"And you still didn't apologize?" I asked, confused.

"No. Err, I didn't know what to say?" He shrugged.

"Spill Edward." I said. What made him think that he could lie to me?

"Nothing Alice, I just couldn't okay? So, where's Rose? I thought she was here with you today?" He changed the topic.

"Yeah, she's fixing your Volvo." I informed him.

"Oh, thank her for me please?"

"Sure"

He looked all smug. I guess he thought he'd distracted me. Yeah, _right_. I'd get him talking soon enough. As I started to leave his room I heard him mutter-

"The day was lucky after all."

I smiled to myself. I had a slight idea as to what made him think so.

That song kept playing again, and again. He'd set it on repeat I suppose. I had a feeling that there was a story behind it too. I'd get him to spill it all in due time.

I giggled and left the room, sparing him more embarrassment. My thoughts quickly drifted to Bella, and I thought about how Edward spoke of her.

What a day! Edward finally notices someone and gets lucky too!

Wait. Oh! What a coincidence!

Edward saw Bella before his practice...and got lucky.

Edward saw Bella before his math class...and got lucky.

Edward saw Bella before his biology class...and got lucky.

 So, did Edward _actually_ find his lucky charm?

 "All done!" Rose suddenly declared, coming out of the bathroom, drying her hands on the towel.

I shook my head at the sound of her voice trying to rid my head of all the thoughts running through it.

Could Bella really be Edward's lucky charm? I mean, lucky charms don't really exist in this world, do they?

There was no sane explanation to this.

But then, this world isn't really the sane place it is supposed to be!

"Are you sure you're okay Alice? You've been so distracted today." Rose said.

_Tell me about it._

"Yeah. I'm just- Oh, forget it, let's head out." I declared.

********

"Rose, you know Bella Swan?" I asked her while she drove to an unknown destination.

She insisted that she knew a place that would set my spirits high again.

"Oh, _God! _Don't tell me _you're_ fixated on her too! She has half the school drooling at the sight of her already._ God!_ You'd think she's special or something. _Sure_. And even that Em-whatever." Rose spoke.

"So that's what has been bothering you..." I said, slightly amused.

_Of course_. I should have known.

"_Bothering_ me? Right." She rolled her eyes.

"Well then, let's just skip this." I said, not wanting to upset her any further. An upset Rosalie behind the wheel-_not_ the best idea.

"Spill, Alice." She said, glaring at me.

"Nothing, Rose, just another random thought." I said.

"Yeah, well, speak." She persisted.

"Um...well you know about Edward and his luck-"

"Like I'd ever forget." She interrupted.

I giggled. Rose had been at the receiving end too. Once Edward had taken us both for a fancy dinner...and had conveniently forgotten to carry his wallet. When our waiter came for the bill, well Edward told us about this, and of course Rose and I had to dig through our purses. The waiter couldn't stop smirking like an idiot. That really pissed Rose off. And once-

"So, what about it?" Rosalie asked,; she wasn't the one for patience.

"I just think that Bella is lucky for Edward." As I said this I felt surer about my epiphany.

She snorted and looked at me incredulously, eyes dancing with amusement. "Right, and _you_ can tell where I'm taking you."

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from speaking. I did have a very good idea of where we might be going.

I thought it best to not continue further. Maybe this was something I needed to work on by myself.

Rose took me to the new boutique down the far end of Phoenix. She'd modeled for the designer last week and she insisted that the dresses were awesome. They really were, and so we were allowed to choose some for ourselves.

After having shopped to our hearts content we went to the Chinese restaurant Rose wanted to try out.

As we went through the menu to think of something appropriate to order, Rose suddenly spoke.

"Well, there _is_ something we can do-I mean, it never hurts to test your ideas."

"Huh?"

This made no sense to me. I looked at Rose; she seemed to be thinking very hard. She had this glint in her eyes; the look she usually had when she was planning and plotting something.

"We can test your '_random thought_'-Bella being lucky for Edward -by keeping the two of them around each other, you know? See if this Bella girl is really '_lucky' _for Edward, as you say." She said with a grin.

"Hmm," I mused at that. Not bad. A grin spread through my face. "I _like_ it."

"_Duh_." She said, rolling her eyes. She went back to her menu, while my mind drifted many miles away, thinking about Rose's suggestions.

"Ready to order Alice?"

"Huh, oh, yeah. Sure." I saw the waiter had already arrived. "I'll just take some...noodles. Vegetable noodles." I hastily decided, hoping there was such a noodle on the menu.

 The waiter's nod told me there was. Good.

 "Get me the Szechuan, please."

 Rose seemed to be very happy, a satisfied smile adorning her face. Her mood seemed to have improved considerably since the morning. I didn't really pay much attention to it; I had so much to take care of right now, like keeping Bella and Edward around each other.

 'Edward and Bella.' I liked the sound of it. A lot.

**AN:**** So, what do you think?**

**Please, do review people. Show us some love. Edward's chapter got only one review (btw, thanks for it...) and I had thought people loved Edward!**


	6. Hot 'N' Cold

**Hot 'N' Cold**

**Author's Note: **

•First of all, sorry, sorry...very sorry for this delay. Hopefully, you haven't given up on this story. Please try to understand-I had a lot going these past couple of months: exams, practicals, vivas, we also moved to a new place, I wrote a couple of one shots for a contest, and I had a small case of Writer's block(more like Writer's dilemma) on this one...and hence this delay. Sorry.

•Now, this chapter is dedicated to Bronzehairedgirl620. She had been my beta for the last 5 chapters but she's got a lot going now, she just graduated-congratulations on that, Lindsey-and now she's got internships, colleges and her own stories to take care of. I dedicate this to her as a token of thanks and best wishes. That's the most I can do for her efforts on my story and her advices when I needed them.

Thanks a lot, Lindsey.

•Oh, and you can thank Tiffany (patch138) for the update, if it wasn't for her, I'd have probably taken another week, or two.

Thanks Tiffany, for some reason, your encouragement did it for me.

•After you've enjoyed this chapter (hopefully) there's a little Author's note at the end-_**please **_take the time to read it.

* * *

"Err, Bella, you weren't serious about not buying the dish-washer thing, were you?" Emmett spoke, looking at all the dishes apprehensively.

"We'll buy one this weekend, Em." I promised, rolling my eyes at him.

"Guess I'll live." He sighed longingly.

Jasper, sprawled on the couch in the living room, was doing a poor job of stifling his laughter, riling Emmett up further.

Jasper was going overboard with his opportunity to irritate Emmett. Long story short-all the washable kitchen paraphernalia in the house presently occupied the sink, thanks to Jasper.

"Ugh. I'd rather make dinner than this." Emmett groaned.

"No, thank you. I intend to live some more." Jasper muttered, flashing his pearly whites. I wished we didn't have an open kitchen.

"I suggest you keep your eyes open henceforth, Whitlock." Emmett muttered through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to overlook specks of last day's food on my dishes. That would just be gross." Jasper quipped, smirking all the while.

Jasper's words always had the desired effect. Emmett was furious. Jazz was a pro at getting Emmett all snappy-he enjoyed it way too much.

In his irritation, Emmett was squeezing the container too hard; half the liquid was already gushing down the sponge.

"I'll help you with it. I'll wash, you rinse and dry." I offered.

"Thanks Bells. You're such a life saver." Emmett hugged me.

"A push-over is more like it." Jasper muttered.

"Of course she is, having spent half her life around you-"Emmett began heatedly.

"Cut it out, guys." I requested.

Emmett huffed while Jasper just rolled his eyes and switched the T.V on.

By the time I was finished with the work I was yawning profusely. Apparently, all the unpacking had drained me of all my energy. I decided to hit the bed early today.

*

As I lay on my bed, my thoughts drifted back to today's activities. All in all, the first day at school really wasn't that bad.

I liked Jake and his gang a lot. Seth, Quil, Embry, Emily, Sam-the whole lot of them. Though Leah's continuous stares had intimidated me.

It was hard to believe that Emily and Leah were sisters. They were stark opposites.

Emily was polite and soft spoken, whereas Leah seemed to be in a permanently sour mood. It seemed like the group put up with Leah only for Emily.

Sam seemed to be uneasy around Leah, too. Their interactions-which were hardly there-seemed to _ooze_ forced normalcy. It was odd, seeing as Emily and Sam were seeing each other.

Then there was this whole..._pack_ of girls- Jessica, Lauren and the whole lot of them. I made a mental note of avoiding them. Lauren seemed to dislike every single thing. Jessica came up as a nicer person, friendlier; though it didn't take a genius to figure that all the affection would last only as long as the people continued paying attention to the 'new kids', and then the glances they kept throwing at Jazz and Em explained a lot...that's all they were after. I could detect that from a mile away. I had a lot of practice around Jazz.

Worst of all was this particular blonde haired...personification of beauty (the one Emmett kept checking out stealthily); she was glaring at me like I'd stolen her boyfriend or something. Her glares sent shudders down my spine.

But not all girls were so...intimidating, or _annoying_. I really liked Alice. She was pretty upfront with her reactions and views. She came across as a very enthusiastic, very bubbly person. I felt like I finally had a girl friend. Something I'd never really managed to accomplish.

Emmett had been really anxious about making it into the team midway through a session, but he got welcomed like the absolute expert of the game. (I could guess why. Emmett told us about the way the team had lost the last time over the lunch break. I couldn't stop laughing at it.)

Em's coach was on cloud 9 after meeting him. He personally ensured all of his papers were submitted properly and took him right back to court straight after. I remembered how he wouldn't even allow him to put his papers back in his bag. I had to do that for him, had to endure the smelly boys' locker room, and that's when I'd seen _him_.

I was returning after depositing Emmett's papers back in the safety of his bag and, being the klutz that I am, bumped into _him_. He had held me close and steadied me. My heart stopped working on its own as I remembered looking right into his piercing emerald eyes. I could feel myself melting, looking at his...charming, _perfect_ face. My breath had caught, and I had kept staring right into eyes as if it was the only thing I wanted to do...We remained that way for what seemed like ages. It was like the image had been engraved in my mind. The feeling was..._intoxicating_.

I shook my head and forced my mind to remember his less than charming behaviour in the biology class.

I was shocked-to say the least. His behaviour drew me to the verge of tears. It took a lot to not break into tears right then and there. He looked at me like I'd stabbed him with a pen or something. He looked all angry and _hurt_?

And then in front of the court after school- he was definitely _glaring_ at me.

Remembering the look upset me, again. I sighed deeply, trying to make myself focus on the fact that it was _his_ fault and that he was a jerk to behave like that.

But yet, I couldn't deny that the way he treated me hurt a lot.

I wondered why he would hate me so much, so quickly. I supposed it had something to do with the light years between his universe and mine.

Him with his glorious looks and popularity; everyone dying to be around him, and then there was me-plain, boring, next to invisible girl-just another addition to the school.

I'd always been this way, but it'd never bothered me.

This is how I like to be, I reminded myself. I never wanted to participate in this mad obsession of doing what would impress others. I chose to do what I was comfortable doing and that's how I'd always be, I thought determinedly.

I decided I would stand up to him tomorrow. Really, I'd ask him what his problem was. I wouldn't be the shy, hesitant, blushing girl tomorrow. I'd demand for him to tell me exactly what I had done to deserve this treatment. I'd give him a piece of my mind tomorrow...for sure

I had a big day tomorrow. The green eyed stranger was going to give me an explanation. With the thought of those green eyes staring at me I drifted to sleep.

* * *

I could hear a lot of commotion down stairs. It was loud enough to wake me up. I lay in my bed, silently, straining my ears for any more sound. Some sort of activity was going on in the house. I glanced at my table clock. It was 5:00 in the morning!

I panicked.

I wondered if it was a thief.

My room was on the top floor. The boys decided to let me have the main bedroom of the house. It was a flight of stairs above from the 1st floor. Jazz and Emmett had both taken up the rooms at the 1st floor.

I remembered that there was a heavy vase right outside my room. I hurried to my door.

I emptied the vase and held it with both my hands. I decided to run to Emmett's room. His room was right next to the stairs. Jasper's was on the extreme end of the floor. As I opened the door, I found the room in a completely dishevelled state.

All Emmett's boxes and its contents were lying about. Emmett was nowhere to be found. This terrified me. I started hyperventilating. What the hell was going on?

Just as I started to tip toe out of the room, someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.

A blood curdling scream left my mouth and I dropped the vase with a loud and resounding thud.

"Whoa! Calm _down_ Bella!"

I gasped and whirled around to face a very amused Emmett.

"What was the v-vase for?" He managed to utter in between his laughter.

"I, I th-thought there was an intruder. I was...bracing myself... for self-defence."I said, while trying to calm my heavy breathing and racing heart.

"Ne-Next time, if need may arise, try to d-drop it _on_ them, at least." He chuckled.

"You scared the living _daylight_ out of me, Emmett!" I said, as the heat rose up my cheeks. I really couldn't last a day without making a fool of myself, could I?

"You were jumping around li-like you'd just sat on a porcupine." He guffawed. He was holding his stomach by now.

"Very funny, Emmett." I said. I was sure I was at least 50 shades of red by now.

I turned around to stomp off to my room. He took hold of my wrist.

"S-sorry Bells, it was so f-funny." He could still not contain his amusement.

"I'm sure it was. You can laugh your head off when one of these days I'd end up having a heart attack because of you." I snapped.

"Sorry!" He took a deep breath and continued. "I was just looking for my old basket ball stuff. I can't seem to find it anywhere!"

"Sure." I said; my mood hadn't improved much and I decided a coffee was in order at this time of the day.

*

"Coffee?" I offered when Emmett finally made it downstairs..

"Yeah, thanks!" He said, looking grateful.

We drank our coffees in silence, letting it revive us.

"All righty then, gotta get going."He said.

"So early?"

"Yeah, well, I've been selected for the match this Saturday 'cause one of their regular players can't make it this time. I just wanna make sure I stay on the team even with him all fit. I sorta wanted to get my hands on the scholarship. That'd help me later. So, some extra practise won't hurt." He said.

"Yeah, well. But you don't have to worry about being in the team Em, they'd be fools if they don't keep you."

He snorted. "The others aren't bad either Bellsy. There's a thin line between confidence and arrogance." He said, going all big brotherly on me. "I gotta tread it carefully."

"But, it's hardly 6 and I haven't even made anything yet!" I said.

"I'm okay, really. I ate some fruits when I woke up. I'm good." He claimed.

"You'd need to keep your strength up too, Em."

"Yeah, _mom_." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes at that. I decided I'd take him something to eat when I went to school. I knew Emmett and his appetite only too well.

* * *

"Hey Bella!" A vivacious voice called from behind me.

"Oh, Hi Alice" I said, smiling back at her sunny face.

"Where are you off to?"

"Basketball court. I needed to give this to Emmett."I said, pointing to the bag I held, filled with some breakfast for him.

"Lovely!" She chirped. Something about it seemed to please her a lot. Almost everything did.

I chuckled lightly and shook my head. Alice was the most enthusiastic girl I'd ever met. I remembered her behaviour yesterday. She'd listened to everything I'd said with so much curiosity; it was like it mattered to her.

"Hey Edward." Alice called to someone, as we entered the court.

I turned my head to the direction where she seemed to be looking, and found myself facing..._him_.

My stomach seemed to flip. Despite having every reason to feel angry for the way he'd treated me yesterday, I was reminded of what it'd felt like when he'd held me yesterday. I started to blush. He looked back at Alice, smiled and then his eyes flicked to mine.

I looked away before he had a chance to glare at me like yesterday.

Wait. _Edward_!

So, _he_ was Alice's brother? Emmett's friend?

Great!

"Looks like there's some time before their practise ends, let's sit."Alice suggested.

I complied. We made our way to the stands.

I observed the guys play. My eyes quickly, and on its own accord, trained themselves on Edward.

Edward had the ball and was dribbling it to the other end of the court without anyone succeeding in snatching it from him. He really knew his thing. He darted through the court like a lion, concentrating solely on his aim. He shot the ball spectacularly-I had no idea what that sort of shoot was called, but it seemed remarkable-and _Basket_!

Wow.

His teammates were applauding him, back patting and shoulder nudging and all, so it was safe to assume that it was some sort of tough shot. It was impressive.

Wait. What's wrong with me?

_He's a jerk, Bella_! I reminded myself. No need to get all impressed, of course he'd play well...he is in the team. That doesn't change the fact that he's an arrogant, air headed fool.

He ran a hand through his hair, removing them from his forehead; it was falling in his eyes, the emerald green eyes!

The thought of those deep eyes made me sigh internally. His shirt was clinging to him due to all the sweat, defining his chest. For some reason it made me blush.

Oh god! _What's_ going on with me?

I shook my head to clear it of such strange thoughts.

Edward looked right at my direction and I hurriedly looked to my right and noticed Alice smirking at something.

I decided to focus on Emmett play instead.

Emmett was like a charging bear and was very straight forward with his moves, which I'm not sure works for everyone, but I suppose his brute strength and weight-lifter like built worked in his favour. I was fairly certain he would secure a permanent place in the team, judging his coach's reactions.

"Rose! Hey."

I turned to see who Alice had called out to and found myself looking at _the_ blonde cheerleader.

My life's _perfect_.

"Alice." She acknowledged her greeting, quite haughtily, the way I saw it but apparently it was okay with Alice, or maybe she was used to it.

She came up to where we were and sat right next to Alice.

"Bella, this is Rosalie-she's the head cheerleader here. Rosalie, meet Bella-she's a new student." Alice did the intro.

"Hi." I said shyly, unsure of how to go about it, and there it was-her smug smile.

"Hello Bella." She said, condescendingly.

It was really awkward. I wasn't sure of what to do next, but Rosalie was quite enjoying it, seemingly. The smile just wouldn't leave her face, and I began to feel the heat creep up my cheeks.

"Bella!" I heard Emmett call out. I saw him waving at me. The practise had been dismissed, by the looks of it.

"Er, I'll be back in a second, Alice." I said as I got up to leave, and I thought I saw Rosalie's smile falter.

"I see you're making friends." Emmett said, smirking, as he glanced at where Alice and Rosalie were. His eyes almost fixed at Rosalie.

I rolled my eyes at that.

"I got you some breakfast. I thought you'd be hungry after practise." I said and that earned me his instant, undivided attention.

"Oh, I love you Bella!" He said, thankfully, almost snatching the bag from me.

I chuckled and he drew me for a huge hug.

"Emmett! Eww. Get to shower first!" I protested.

He laughed and left after kissing the top of my head.

I found Rosalie glaring at me, looking like she wanted to burn a hole in my head with the intensity of her gaze.

_If looks could kill..._

Suddenly she got up and left the place without greeting me, or Alice, at all; back ramrod straight and footsteps echoing through the place.

"Alice, I'm done here. Are you coming?" I asked.

"Oh, but Bella, I-" She started to protest for some reason.

"Now, Alice. _Please_." I persisted.

"Oh, oh well. Okay then." She said. For some reason it seemed to upset her.

"Sorry. I just need to rush to my class right now." I was in no mood to be introduced to her brother too. I'd already done Rosalie today. Edward, too? The two people who seemed to hate my very guts? One can only take so much.

"Err, where's Jasper Bella?" Alice asked me.

"He's with the band. They have a gig coming up this weekend. I suppose they're fixing up their song list."

"Oh. Wow."She said.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Where do they have their gig at?" She asked.

"Umm. I think there's this place called 'New Moon' or something."

"Oh." She said, and suddenly her face looked all vacant for a second and she gasped softly. Her eyes were slightly unfocussed, as if she was day-dreaming.

"Alice? What's it?" I asked, worried.

"Um, no, nothing. I, I just remembered something important, that's all. I'll see you later Bella, bye." She said hurriedly and went away.

I suppose I'd have to get used to her departing this way. She'd hurried away yesterday too. I suppose it was her style, I snorted at my little introspection and made way to my next class.

* * *

It was math now, and I was seated next to Alice. We were chattering about anything and everything. It was great to have a girlfriend. We even whisper talked throughout the lecture, something I'd never done before. It was such a refreshing experience. I don't think I'd giggled so much at the same time ever before.

Soon it was lunch. We went to the cafeteria. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from Emmett; He'd had to stay back for practise and so he wasn't going to be joining me for lunch, nor was Jasper. They only had 2 days before their gig and they were working for it.

I sighed. Lunch alone. Great.

"What's it?"Alice asked.

"Oh, nothing. Jazz and Em won't be joining me today."I informed her.

"Why don't you join us at our table today?"Alice asked me.

"Sure. If that's okay with your friends." I said. What else was there to say? I silently prayed that Rosalie doesn't decide to join us too, or Edward.

She led the way to her table. There were two other girls on the table.

"Bella, meet Angela and Lindsey." She introduced. "Guys, this is Bella."

"Hi Bella." The two of them greeted me in unison.

"Hello." I responded. "You guys look so familiar."I voiced my thoughts.

"You share Government and Biology with me."Angela informed me.

"English with me."Lindsey said. Both of them had a very warm smile on their faces

"Great. You have your English with the expert herself."Alice said, looking at Lindsey with a very loving smile.

Angela mirrored Alice's expressions. Lindsey just rolled her eyes.

"Really, Bella. Lindsey's good at it. You should read the stories she's written. She'd make an awesome author some day." Angela said.

"Absolutely." Alice supplied confidently.

"Thanks guys, but really, tone down on all the flattering please." Lindsey said.

Everyone chuckled at it a bit.

Lunch with the girls was a fun affair, but as the biology class hour approached, I felt butterflies flooding my stomach. I could hardly concentrate on what the girls were talking about now. Last I remembered we were discussing Robert Pattinson's hotness, they could've moved to global warming for all I knew. I suppose it had something to do with my impending speech. Maybe it's better to ignore him, I mused. Inviting controversies isn't the ideal way of spending two years at High school.

_No_! Some part of me protested. I couldn't decide if this was the demonic or the angelic one. _He needs to be shown his place!_

I sighed, quiet audibly.

"Oh, sorry Bella, we're definitely boring you!" Angela said.

"No, definitely not. That was..._interesting_."

Angela didn't press further, and Lindsey just smiled politely while Alice eying me in

a way that suggested she was speculating over something.

Oh God, what were they discussing?

The sound of the bell going spared me more delving into the matter, and the prospect of what was coming made me jump out of my seat, causing me to stumble. Bella the klutz strikes again.

"Hurry much?" Alice asked, smiling slyly. She looked at me with a knowing look, as if she'd deduced the greatest secret.

"Err, no, I'm just-I just don't want to be late for class, that's all."

"It's ok Bella, I don't want any explanations." She said, slowly, softly and that significant look on her face was annoying me, or, maybe scaring me. For some reason I felt like a little girl trying to hide chocolates from her mother who could see them peeking from behind the skirt.

That was strange.

"Come on Bella. We should get moving." Angela called.

"Yeah, let's go. See you around Alice, Lindsey."

Alice was still smiling that all knowing smile.

"I'm assigned a seat next to Jude. See you later, Bella." Angela said and left; her seat was at the front, left of the class. I made my way to the back of the class, extreme right and sat at my seat.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I closed my self and told myself to be brave and just say what I'd planned on saying.

The sound of the door being opened made my eyes snap open, but it was just another girl. I sighed, and went back to my mental pep talk.

Every time the door opened, my heart would start pounding in my chest, and I would turn around to see who it was. I was worried I'd sprain my neck that way. I was feeling pretty...charged right now. Every sound made me jump in my seat.

Soon the teacher entered the class, and there still was no trace of Edward.

Figures. He was probably late for every class-him and his superior attitude.

He didn't show up for the class at all. I couldn't understand why I was so..._concerned_ because of his absence.

As the class ended I trudged towards gym. I couldn't help but ponder over his absence...I was feeling a bit..._off_. I couldn't place my fingers at what it was exactly.

"What's with all the disappointment gushing out of you?"

I jumped at hearing Jasper's voice behind me.

"Disappointment?"

_Yes._

"No. What are you talking about?"

Jasper smiled his 'suit-your-self' smile and didn't press further.

"Anyway, I'm gonna be going for band practice after school today. You can take my car." He said, handing me his keys.

"Fine."

"Okay then, see you in the evening, Bells."

"Yeah, see ya."

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. I did my homework, had my dinner, and witnessed my share of the Jasper and Emmett drama- Jasper having beaten Emmett at Halo, leading to Emmett's incessant demands for a re-match.

As I waited for sleep to claim me for the night, I wondered if he'd show up the other day... but he didn't.

I pondered over his sudden non-appearance in biology class. Was he sick? Surprisingly, the thought of him being ill made me sad, which was odd. I shouldn't be concerned, should I? He was a total stranger-a very rude stranger at that.

Yet, I couldn't help wanting to ask Alice about it. I wondered how I could do that without sounding inappropriately attached or something.

As the bell rang I made my way to gym, quite grudgingly.

After the torture was over, I changed into my regular clothes and waited for Jasper to take me to their practice.

As I waited, a blue eyed boy I recognized from gym came up to me.

"Bella, right?"

I nodded.

"Hi. I'm Mike."He introduced himself, and shook hands with me.

"So, you're from Jacksonville, right?"

"Yeah."I replied, a little surprised, and slightly creeped out, at how much he seemed to know about me. I wondered if he'd asked someone.

"So, Bella, I've got this party going tomorrow night. You in?" He asked.

"Uh-" I tried to think of some smart way to wriggle out of this spot, without sounding rude.

"Sup?" A voice sounded next to me.

"Jake." I spoke in relief.

"Jacob." Mike nodded at Jake, acknowledging him with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"And you would be?"

I was pretty sure Jake knew Mike; he was just trying to embarrass him, and embarrassed Mike did look.

"Mike." He did the unnecessary introduction. "Bella's friend." He added, a smirk replacing the discomfort on his face.

"Well, Mike, Bella's friend, I'd have loved to stay and chat, but we two gotta get going." He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, smiling widely at Mike. I observed Mike hardly came up to Jake's nose, and as of now, his face was bright red.

"See you around." He waved at Mike as he steered us towards the door.

"You didn't have to be so rude." I chided him playfully.

"Friend of yours?"

"Not really."

"Chillax, then." He shrugged.

I shook my head at his attitude; he just smiled impishly.

"Where's Jasper?"

"Mending his guitar strings. He sent me instead. Why, am I such an undesirable

company?" He asked teasingly.

I just rolled my eyes at him, and he burst out laughing.

"Hey Jake! Bella!" Emmett's roaring voice claimed our attention. We turned around to find Emmett making his way towards us. My focus shifted from him to the group of people he just excused himself from, and landed on none other than Edward.

After two days of his absence, his vibrant, forest green eyes felt brighter. His face seemed to glow...

His oh-so-familiar stare broke my ridiculous reverie. He was looking at our way with distaste clear in his eyes. The expression made my heart sink.

Suddenly I remembered Jake's hands around me. It had felt so natural that I hadn't even considered freeing myself from him. Jake was just like Emmett to me. But right now, I wanted his arms to leave me, fast.

His arms hung loose anyway, so I just moved forward at the pretext of meeting Emmett halfway.

The first thing I did was to look at Edward again, to see his expression now. He wasn't looking at me now.

"Hey bro, wassup?" Jake and Em punched fists like most guys usually do.

"Nothing much, just taking a short breather before coach begins the drilling again.

"Big game tomorrow, eh?"

"Yeah. You off to their band practice, Bells?"

I nodded. "Jazz and me will be back late I guess."

"Yeah, me too, by the looks of it."

"We should get a move on. The guys are probably waiting. See ya later, man." Jake spoke, patting Em's shoulder.

"Yeah, bro. Later."

"See you later, Emmett." I said, and left for the parking lot with one last look at Edward, who was more interested in his shoes.

* * *

The band practice was great. The band's usual hangout, Jake's garage-more fondly called _'The Mist pad'_ was pretty cool. Pictures of their favourite bands and musicians adorned the walls. The band was fantastic. They had a playlist cut out for the gig, and were doing a great job with the songs.

Yet, as I ate my dinner, all I could think of was Edward.

So Edward definitely wasn't ill. Yet, he wasn't attending the bio classes. Some part of me wondered if I had anything to do with his absence. The idea was absolutely ridiculous, but so was his apparent dislike for me.

This Edward Cullen was driving me nuts.

"Someone's pretty pre-occupied."Jasper smiled at me.

"Yeah, just homework and stuff." I tried to dodge his enquiry, and homework was a valid reason anyway; the amount of homework made you wonder if the teachers were sadistic.

"Are you coming to the game, Bells?"Emmett asked.

"Yeah, Alice said she'd pick me up so you guys don't have to fret over that." I told them.

"Hmm." They acknowledged.

"Looks like you've made friends with Alice already."Jazz commented, staring at his pasta as if it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.

"Yeah, she's really nice."I said.

"That little thing is a ball of energy." Emmett chuckled fondly.

If I didn't know better I'd have said I thought I saw Jazz smiling at that comment.

"Um, I'll go sleep now, lot of work to do tomorrow." Jasper excused himself from the table.

I think he caught me staring at him.

"Me, too." Emmett said. "Got to get a good night's sleep."

"Best of luck, both of you."

* * *

Alice and I were now in the basketball court, fighting our way through the cheering and shouting crowd. We were late because Alice decided to 'dress me up' for the 'occasion'. It took her half an hour to pick out the perfect 'ensemble' from my wardrobe. Then, we had to get stuck in the traffic.

Our team was 3 baskets behind, 20 minutes into the game.

We managed to find a place at the top most benches at the court. Apparently basketball was very popular out here.

The first thing I noticed was Edward. _Of course_, a small of part of my mind chided. I shamelessly ignored it and continued to look at him. The uniform looked...good on him. I noticed he was tall and lanky. He had a well-defined muscle structure-not protruding too much, but very much there.

It was like the shouting crowd made it easier for me to ignore the voices in my head which told me to stop being so much of a smitten, crazed fan girl, as I continued taking in his perfection.

He managed to snatch the ball from someone from the other team. He dribbled it across the court, and all I could seem to notice was the way his muscles rippled with every move.

He passes the ball to Emmett, and he scored. The whole part of the court supporting our team erupted in cheers, and I joined them, jumping up and down, clapping my hands. Emmett punched the air in triumph.

Edward nudged his shoulders with Emmett.

_Edward..._

_Stop it, Bella!_ Finally, the logical part of my head took control.

What was I doing? This fool treats me like dirt, avoids me like plague, and I sing odes to his superficial faultlessness?

Where's my self respect?

Someone with quiet a tall frame made another basket for our team and we jumped for joy again.

We were only 1 basket behind the other team-_Lancers_- now.

Nothing eventful happened till the half-time, except for a spectacular save that Emmett made.

Right after the half-time, the Lancers succeeded in scoring another basket; another guy from our team, Garret, shot a three pointer in response.

Another few minutes, the tall guy, whose name I learned was Ron, scored again, bringing us at par with the other team.

10 minutes were left for the game to end. We needed a basket to bag the game. Most unfortunately for us, the Lancer managed to shoot another basket.

My heart was hammering now. We _had_ to win this match.

I stood on my bench, to catch a better view of the game.

I had my hands folded in front of me in desperation; we needed to win this.

5 minutes left. We needed two baskets to win.

The pressure on our team was visible; shouting of instructions and near misses was taking place. The Lancers were practically glowing.

"Come on, come on." I found myself shouting at the top of my lungs.

"Oh god, please. Come on."

And then, as if in answer to our prayers, our team scored. Emmett shot the ball, managing to get it through the loop.

Yet, the pressure was on us. If the game was a draw, the Lancers would move on to the semi-finals and we'd be out of the championship.

Hardly 1 minute of the game remained. I was a nervous wreck. I could imagine how hard it would have been for the players.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Ben from our team caught hold of the ball. The other team was being relentless. The defence was strong. There was no way for Ben to move an inch. He managed to throw the ball at Edward, who caught it, his face an impression of hopelessness, as if he'd already given up on any chances of him scoring.

The clock showed 30 seconds.

"Shoot the ball, Edward!" I was certain my throat wouldn't function after the torture I was putting it through ended.

A burly guy from the other team moved towards him to try and snatch the ball. In an attempt to keep the ball to himself he moved towards the very edge of the line and turned around, towards the crowd.

"Shoot Edward." Their coach shouted, getting as close as was allowed. The look of defeat didn't leave his face.

"Come on, Edward!" I found myself shouting; fully aware that there was no way he could hear me.

Some 10 seconds remained. The other team didn't leave a hole in the defense. His only chance was to shoot from his place, which was a significant distance away from the loop.

He exhaled heavily, and made to turn, and then, for the briefest of seconds, our eyes met. Almost instantly he shot the ball in a wild attempt to get it through the loop.

And, _basket!_

I was shouting at a deafening decibel level. Edward looked utterly surprised, an expression mirrored by his sister, though the surprise left Alice's face soon, making place for a smug, 'I-knew-it' sort of look.

"We won, Alice!" I shook her hard, and hugged the life out of her.

"I'll go see Emmett." I told her and rushed to congratulate Emmett.

I found him in a group hug of sorts with his team.

He detached himself from them when he spotted me and lifted me off the ground, twirling me around.

I shrieked and squeaked like a little girl.

"Congrats!" I greeted him.

"Hey, bro! Party at Ron's place, coming?" Ben asked Emmett.

"Hell yeah. You in, Bella?" He asked.

"Nah, I'll be home. You attend your social events." I smiled at him. Such outings just weren't my thing.

"You go on, Em. I'll have Alice drop me." I told him.

"Okay, then. Catch ya later." He waved and went back to his team.

I searched the court for Alice, and found her chatting with her brother. I almost made to turn back and disappear from their view, but-

"Bella!" Alice called.

"Alice, hey." I turned around and faced Alice, trying my best to not look at her left, hoping she didn't choose to introduce me to her brother.

"Bella, meet my brother, Edward."

"Hi, Bella." He spoke in a velvety voice that almost made my knees buckle. _Almost_. I was not letting him have this affect on me.

"Hey." I waved at him, trying to sound just as indifferent as I was shouting at my traitorous mind to feel.

He smiled a 420watt smile. What was with _that_? Where was the glare?

"You ready to go Alice?" I asked her.

"Actually Bella, I had other plans. Sorry." She said, sounding anything but sorry.

"No problem, Alice. I'd take a cab or something."

"No way, Bella. What makes you think I'd let you? Edward will drop you."

_4 point something inch, devil-incarnate pixie said what?_

"Won't you Edward?" She directed at her brother.

"Sure, no problem at all." Her oh-so-kind brother shrugged.

"It's settled then. See you later Bella, Edward." And that back-stabber of a friend left, leaving me frozen at the spot.

"I've got to get my stuff-" He began.

"Fine, I'll be at the parking lot." I told him, and left before he said anything else.

If he thought he could treat me like I was grime and then smile his charismatic smile, making me forget everything-he was sadly mistaken. He was about to discover just how well_ Bella Swan_ could ignore_ him._

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**Author's Note**:

•Yay! Edward no-more-unlucky Cullen won us the match. Alice's epiphany was correct. Bella is lucky for Edward! Looks like Alice is up to something.

Like it? Hate it? Let me know, please. I can do with a little support. Even if its suggestions or criticism, bring 'em on...

•I've got two new one shots posted. Those are for the Epic T Rated Contest co-organized by Bronzehairedgirl620 and (in the memory of) Daddy's Little Cannibal. You guys are my first ever readers and I'd love for you all to go check them out and tell me how you like them, oh and vote for your favourite coughwhich_could_bemecough. The voting has begun. If you're interested in the voting details and in reading the other entries-the information can be found at the 2nd chapter of the stories...

•I'm trying to churn out new chapters; I'm a little in jeopardy with the next chapter. I haven't started writing yet. I'm trying to ascertain how best to go with it. I'm trying to do my best and will try to put it up at the earliest. Let's see how it works. Also, I'll be editing my previous chapters. I just want to try to make it better, so I don't wince every time I read them... In the meanwhile, you guys leave me lotta _Reviewwwwwwwws!!!_Please?

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